tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15084005970831775242018-03-01T13:09:01.802-08:00ShinmaikeruShinmaikeruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03533877978281092332noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1508400597083177524.post-23860727031220058282016-06-24T23:56:00.000-07:002016-06-25T00:05:24.167-07:00Quest for Kunpen, Part 4: Naha by ChanceSakurazaka Theater is a wonderful place, and after a wonderful documentary on Yomitan pottery, I walked through the narrow streets around the theater, far behind the busy Kokusai Doori, to find some Kunpen.<br />The covered maze of tiny shops and stalls called XXX is a lot of fun, and there are several old sweets shops that sell to the many tourists visiting from all over the world, though many of them are from Japan, China, and Taiwan.<br />In the covered market, I came across two shops on opposite sides of the tiny stree. At Toma Seika (外間製菓所), I got a large kunpen. It was really big for kunpen, rather flat, and just moist enough. The soft outer shell had a nice mild sweetness, and the filling was sweet and soft. Kunpen usually contain sesame, and some mix in peanuts. Toma Seika kunpen contains only sesame, but it is mild. The sesame aroma and flavor does not stand out. Comforting, simple kunpen, but not too different from others reviewed in this blog.<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4hwB-naODcg/V2drWL8EehI/AAAAAAAADWQ/TQBowKS14MAXC4pozAZeqQ6OPmmVZlRkwCK4B/s1600/IMG_4100.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4hwB-naODcg/V2drWL8EehI/AAAAAAAADWQ/TQBowKS14MAXC4pozAZeqQ6OPmmVZlRkwCK4B/s400/IMG_4100.JPG" width="400" /></a><br />A little farther down and on the opposite side was&nbsp;Matsuhara-ya Seika (松原屋製菓). The older lady watching the store pointed to two types of kunpen - sesame and peanut. I chose peanut. Here it is:<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M73I6zgCA9Q/V24lGs8mtDI/AAAAAAAADWo/v3awtVI6fTAYIiAoxDwFDRCHi84rhFGZQCK4B/s1600/MatsuharaYaSeika%25E6%259D%25BE%25E5%258E%259F%25E5%25B1%258B%25E8%25A3%25BD%25E8%258F%2593%25E9%2582%25A3%25E8%25A6%2587%25E5%25B8%2582.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M73I6zgCA9Q/V24lGs8mtDI/AAAAAAAADWo/v3awtVI6fTAYIiAoxDwFDRCHi84rhFGZQCK4B/s400/MatsuharaYaSeika%25E6%259D%25BE%25E5%258E%259F%25E5%25B1%258B%25E8%25A3%25BD%25E8%258F%2593%25E9%2582%25A3%25E8%25A6%2587%25E5%25B8%2582.JPG" width="400" /></a><br />The outer "gawa" or cookie part was crispy and just the right sweetness. Like its neighbor, though, the filling was comforting but not surprising or stimulating. It was nice, comforting kunpen.<br />I then left the covered market for Minamijima Seika (南島製菓), which is known for its kunpen... and there is a very good reason why.<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xOj6yHnXXC4/V24nvWYEOcI/AAAAAAAADW0/6yfrPn7Ldpc0kwHe6mgenJMrlGkiwjybACK4B/s1600/minamijima-seika-kunpen-IMG_4105.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xOj6yHnXXC4/V24nvWYEOcI/AAAAAAAADW0/6yfrPn7Ldpc0kwHe6mgenJMrlGkiwjybACK4B/s640/minamijima-seika-kunpen-IMG_4105.JPG" width="480" /></a><br />If sentient sesame exist, this is the stuff of their tiny nightmares. Imagine "This. Is. Kunpen!" in a "300", Sparta kinda way. Huge like the sumo of sweets, with a filling that is all sesame, 120%. Compared with other sesame-only kunpen, the flavor and fragrance of the sesame filling was completely different. It was not as sweet, not as diluted by sugar or caramelized. It was intoxicatingly rich and aromatic, and the sheer volume of the sesame made the "gawa" or outer cookie-like a mild and sweet balance to the intensity of it. This is kunpen you have to try, preferably with some really nice tea or milk. After just half of one, I had to just sit back and relax. It is that "totally sated" kind of high. Great kunpen.<br /><br />This is the fourth of four installments:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://shinmaikeru.blogspot.jp/2013/08/quest-for-kunpen-part-1-why.html" target="_blank">Quest for Kunpen, Part 1: Why</a></li><li><a href="http://shinmaikeru.blogspot.com/2013/08/quest-for-kunpen-part-2-department.html" target="_blank">Quest for Kunpen, Part 2: Department Store Kunpen</a>&nbsp;in which I review 14 kunpen found in department stores</li><li><a href="http://shinmaikeru.blogspot.com/2013/08/quest-for-kunpen-part-3-shuri-kunpen.html" target="_blank">Quest for Kunpen, Part 3: Shuri Kunpen</a>&nbsp;in which I review three very special kunpen from Shuri</li><li><a href="http://shinmaikeru.blogspot.jp/2016/06/quest-for-kunpen-part-four-naha-by.html" target="_blank">Quest for Kunpen, Part 4: Naha by Chance</a>&nbsp;in which I add some Naha old town favorites</li></ul>Shinmaikeruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03533877978281092332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1508400597083177524.post-12660227516503341462014-09-08T15:36:00.000-07:002014-09-08T15:36:00.134-07:00Okinawan Home Cookin' at Kokoro no Yado<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 13px;">Before I tell you how fabulous this meal was, I have to apologize for the lack of good photos. I was too busy chewin’ and gruntin’ to waste time fiddling with a camera. This food is too good for Instagram.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 13px;">The restaurant is Kokoro no Yado, where sisters Sigeyo Ishigaki and Kimiko Noha cook up local ingredients with big smiles and even bigger hospitality. What they don’t grow in their own garden they get from the sea or local farms.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 13px;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V1ZeY7bHXGg/VA4tw8fXeoI/AAAAAAAABOw/6hx7vGIZzu4/s1600/IMG_1727.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V1ZeY7bHXGg/VA4tw8fXeoI/AAAAAAAABOw/6hx7vGIZzu4/s1600/IMG_1727.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;">Sisters Sigeyo Ishigaki and Kimiko Noha in the restaurant's home kitchen</span></td></tr></tbody></table></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 13px;">Each dish is delicious and distinct. They do all the common Okinawan favorites, but they do them really, really well. The butter-grilled fish was amazing, aromatic with garlic that permeates evenly all the way to the bone. Then there was the pork and yama-imo stir-fry, which I did not see coming.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-u47tYVOVK4M/VA4uGjEcHYI/AAAAAAAABO4/Ne2nvt8pLP0/s1600/IMG_1726.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-u47tYVOVK4M/VA4uGjEcHYI/AAAAAAAABO4/Ne2nvt8pLP0/s1600/IMG_1726.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pork, Yama-imo, and Nira</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 13px;">It was like yin and yang on a plate, the meat bold, earthy, and super-savory, the veggies bright, snappy and slightly tart. Eaten separately, they were wonderful. Eaten together, they were mind-boggling. Every mouthful made me want more, and I was happily humbled.</span><br /> <span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 13px;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 13px;">But the fried octopus… it should be arrested for inciting social unrest. Both sweet and savory, not rubbery at all, satisfying in both flavor and texture and totally addictive, this “taco kara-age” was so good that all eight of us at the table sat there white-knuckled, eye-balling one another as we held ourselves back from shamelessly wolfing it all down.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 13px;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 13px;">However, I also have to describe the atmosphere, which was equally exceptional. The place is homey. In fact, it IS their home. Kimiko Noha and her husband Munenobu have lived in the house for 30 years, but they opened it as a restaurant only 2 years ago. You come in, sit down, and either order or leave it up to them to feed you. The sisters just cook it up and bring it out with easy smiles and grace. They are sincere and warm, and you really become a guest in their home.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aMEsrGNxlN0/VA4ua1eiYWI/AAAAAAAABPA/WGttkz9RPSU/s1600/IMG_1731.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aMEsrGNxlN0/VA4ua1eiYWI/AAAAAAAABPA/WGttkz9RPSU/s1600/IMG_1731.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; text-align: start;">Sigeyo Ishigaki, Kimiko Noha, and Munenobu Noha at the guest table</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 13px;">So treat yourself, your family, and your friends to some terrific food with these wonderful people. Put aside some time to try Kokoro no Yado, open 11:00-14:30 for lunch, 16:00-23:00 for dinner. 098-964-3885. For more info, visit the website at&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #042eee; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 13px;"><u>http://www.kukurunoyado.com/.</u></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 13px;">&nbsp;You can find <a href="https://www.google.co.jp/maps/place/%E5%BF%83%E3%81%AE%E5%AE%BF(%E3%81%8F%E3%81%8F%E3%82%8B%E3%81%AE%E3%82%84%E3%81%A9)/@26.429768,127.754774,16z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x34e510926b027a45:0xa6d9e10ea3d82e9a?hl=ja" target="_blank">Kokoro no Yado (心の宿) on&nbsp;</a></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 13px;"><a href="https://www.google.co.jp/maps/place/%E5%BF%83%E3%81%AE%E5%AE%BF(%E3%81%8F%E3%81%8F%E3%82%8B%E3%81%AE%E3%82%84%E3%81%A9)/@26.429768,127.754774,16z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x34e510926b027a45:0xa6d9e10ea3d82e9a?hl=ja" target="_blank">Google Maps</a> here.</span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6u4EDHtVfcU/VA4vHBeKiWI/AAAAAAAABPM/-X0R8nGTa84/s1600/IMG_1733.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6u4EDHtVfcU/VA4vHBeKiWI/AAAAAAAABPM/-X0R8nGTa84/s1600/IMG_1733.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">心の宿 Kokoro no Yado</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span>Shinmaikeruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03533877978281092332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1508400597083177524.post-20659329144647067332013-09-03T18:59:00.002-07:002014-09-08T14:13:28.881-07:00Urashima Taro Part 3: Wake Up with Waffle House<i>From an old blog, this is part 3 an account of when I visited the US in 2006, my first visit after for 9 years of living in Japan.</i><br /><div><br /></div><div>January 25th, 2006<br /><br />After a 32-hour trip with baby, I got 5 hours of sleep in a cheap hotel and then woke up and showered. My first morning in America in 9 years, and there is no hot water. Strangely, I wasn't at all angry, since it kind of matched my mood.<br /><br />The Indian immigrants that owned the Airline Blvd Econolodge were really nice. As an expat living on the skinny, I even identified with them. Having lived for 12 years in a country whose language I had to learn from scratch, I did not mind at all that the night manager was nearly incomprehensible. I thanked him for his kindness and promptness in picking us up the night before, knowing full well that it was not an exception. A cheerful woman in a sari was cleaning rooms when we left, and it was obvious that the family pretty much did everything here. I told her how much I appreciated the very late pickup, and how relieved I was to find a place to stay, and she smiled with genuine joy and said, "that's nice to hear." The motel was cheap and dirty with no hot water, but it was safe. It was a place with lockable doors and lights, and it had housed my father, wife, and son. I was truly grateful.<br /><br />However, once Dad was awake and Noel was being fed, I was numb again and taking care of business, getting us in the car and on the road to Oxford. We really needed some breakfast, so Dad took us through Memphis instead of getting on the interstate right away.<br /><br />Dad, in spite of his condition, was driving. He was driving because it was easier for him to get into the driver's side of the car. Simple as that. There was also my disorientation about driving on the right side of the road.<br /><br />Highway 78 from Airline Boulevard was just sleazy. I chuckled at seeing a run-down building with a huge sign advertising "China Buffet Truck Parking." Just at this moment, Dad lifts his eyebrows and says "Mmm, China Buffet," and he is absolutely serious, offering it as an enticing alternative.<br /><br />Driving through Memphis, I was struck by how the scenery was like the Chinese food we got in the Chicago airport - so much quantity with so little quality - so much space with so little in it.<br /><br />For breakfast, we stopped at one of Dad's favorite restaurants - Waffle House. We sat in a booth because Dad needed the wider seat just to fit himself on. I was impressed by how far American restaurants have come in accommodating the disabled. The doors were big enough for Dad to get through, and even the bathroom was like a barn, or so it seemed to me, coming from super-compact Japan.<br /><br />The booth was next to the grills and stoves where the food was prepared. There was a loud, young black woman who seemed to run the show. She was large, tall and stocky, and she had numerous tattoos of handwriting - in cursive, no less - up and down her neck and arms. I did not and still do not understand the significance of these tattoos, but they seemed to mean something. They were not artistic at all. She talked freely and often with the customers, two of whom were evidently regulars.<br /><br />At the grill was a much shorter, rounder young black woman who seemed to be on good terms with the bossy one. She was talking on a cell phone as she cooked the food in an efficient and easy manner. It was impressive how she could get away with all this, but it was not my place to say anything.<br /><br />Then there was a much skinnier, smaller black girl and a round, blonde white girl waitressing. They were obviously very scared of the boss. The blonde white girl was actually shaking very badly most of the time, but I suspect that she might have been in some kind of drug withdrawal or maybe just alcoholic shakes. Her teeth looked terrible, so I suspected it might have been meth, but who knows. I don't like to assume the worst, but she was obviously not doing well, and the teeth, the bags under the eyes, and the yellow complexion made substance abuse much more likely than some neurological disorder.<br /><br />Last, there was Grandmaw, or at least she was somebody's Grandmaw. She was probably in her late fifties or above, and she was completely oblivious to the other workers. Of course, she coordinated orders, asked for things, and served, and she was directing the waitresses on what to give to whom and when, but she was not at all in the circuit of intimidation and fear that the boss girl had set up. It seemed almost like Grandmaw didn't notice this very palpable set of power dynamics.<br /><br />My father, for his part, was oblivious, too. He ordered his favorite burger and a side of hash browns. He asked for extra pickles, and when Grandmaw brought them, he thanked her and said that extra pickles is one of those little pleasures. She told him to take his time and enjoy his food.<br /><br />He replied, "Oh, I always take my time. I don't like to rush through my food. You have to enjoy life while you have it. That's what I say."<br /><br />Grandmaw agreed, "You got to take each day as it comes. You take it for what it is and be grateful."<br /><br />My wife looked over to me for translation, and I made a face to indicate that interpretation at this moment was not an option. The boss girl was detailing how she made so-and-so regret ever coming in here for a job, and the shaky white girl brought me more coffee. I was impressed that, 12 years after I left the USA, you can now get decaf with free refills at Waffle House.<br /><br />Dad rearranged the pickles on the meat so that they perfectly cover the beef patty, giving him an ideal combination with every bite. "You know, you can have your lots of stuff, but if you can't enjoy it, it doesn't mean much. I just want to enjoy what I got and live my days as best I can." The skinny black girl drops a cup on the counter, but it doesn't break, and boss girl glances her way.<br /><br />At this point, a gray-haired, moustached man of about my father's age got out of his customized pickup and came in. He was definitely southern and country, with cowboy shirt, boots and hat, but he was slender and healthy, standing on his own, looking about purposefully, and carrying a cell phone on his belt. He was independent and employed. He might have been the owner of a small business or perhaps something to do with low-level industry. He had that air about him, and he looked like Dad. Or rather, he looked like Dad would look if he were not in such bad shape. I felt guilty because I imagined what life would be like if Dad was like this - healthy, purposeful, independent, and mobile. This guy's kids probably recieve money from him, rather than the other way around. But it was not money that I envied. It was certainty, freedom from doubt and guilt.<br /><br />This guy was in charge and probably carrying quite a few people on his own, both at work and at home. He was probably a good guy to go to for advice in certain things. I can't say that I would ask Dad's advice. The thing that really made me feel kind of short-changed was knowing that this guy's kids never had to ask themselves if they are doing enough for him. They never had to decide how much to sacrifice for him, what they would have to do to help him. He was strong and on his own, and his children are free. But that is rot, to think that way, and I turned my attention back to the diner drama unfolding.<br /><br />Grandmaw was still serving other customers and keeping the conversation going, "That's the best way. I don't want none of them luxury things they got on the home shopping TV, none of them bags and jewelry. I like to just do my own thing and take my time."<br /><br />Dad smiled in agreement, and I noticed that he was missing teeth. "Dad, you're missing some teeth."<br /><br />"Yeah, they fell out, but I don't have the dental or the funds to get 'em fixed," he said apologetically.<br /><br />"But Dad, those are your dentures, right?"<br /><br />"Yeah, the teeth fell right out of 'em. Sorry-ass way to live, ain't it? I'm missin' teeth in my false teeth," and he chuckled. "Sorta like getting a wooden leg amputated, ain't it? You might say I done hit rock bottom. I'm mostly paralyzed in my right hand, so I can't even jerk off, I'm so fat I ain't seen my pecker in years, I can't walk, can't work, and can't get around, and I'm married to a crazy woman. But you know, there is always hope." And he leans in with a conspiratorial whisper, "I am working my way to ambidexterity, if you know what I mean." And he grinned, the missing teeth at irregular positions, suggesting some kind of meaning, like a coded message.<br /><br />The door opened, and a young, plump white woman with dye-black hair, a colorful butterfly tattoo on her neck and several piercings all over her head came in. She was very fair and clear-skinned. She even looked healthy. She asked for a job application, and the boss girl gave it to her with a raised eyebrow. The butterfly goth girl went outside again, and Grandmaw was at a different table serving.<br /><br />While the goth girl was outside filling in the form, the regulars at the bar got more coffee and asked if it would take long to teach her who is boss. Though she had been talking almost non-stop up until this point, the boss girl's tone quickly changed, and she was quiet "Won't take long. Never does," she answered and started silently wiping the counter as though it were part of her reply.<br /><br />Well-oiled and queazy, we made our way back to Oxford. I drove, and it was difficult to stay awake on those straight, deserted country highways. I swerved a couple of times, but there was nothing to hit, and everyone else was asleep.<br /><br />When we arrived at Dad's house, we went in to greet my step-mother B. She had taken an interest in decorating, and there were wooden posts of technicolor deer and gnomes stuck in the lawn. Each one only cost 2 dollars at Walmart, and it made her feel happy. She had succeeded in purchasing. She was an agent in commercial transactions. She was participating in the world.<br /><br />The white front door to the house had "NO SMOKING - OXYGEN" written in flourescent orange block letters in the middle. The letters, however, were partially obscured by plastic vines and artificial flowers that had been nailed to the outside of the door. More decorating. She said that the vines really "bring out" the front of the house.<br /><br />Wife and the baby stayed in the car for the time being because the baby was still nursing and half-asleep. I tried to help Dad out of the car and to the house, but Dad told me to go on ahead, that he would take his time. My stepmother was eager to see me, he said.<br /><br />So I opened the door, and then it really got weird.</div>Shinmaikeruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03533877978281092332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1508400597083177524.post-50389515716165044502013-09-03T15:31:00.001-07:002013-09-03T19:00:33.486-07:00Urashima Taro Part 2: Cold Water in Memphis<i>From an old blog, this is part 2 of an account of when I visited the US in 2006, my first visit after for 9 years of living in Japan.</i><br /><div><br /></div><div>January 24th, 2006</div><br />On the flight, everyone slept but me. The video screens kept me awake the whole time, watching movies I didn't want to see.<br /><br />We got to Chicago, and everybody is hungry. We needed to find something the baby could eat, so we went to a Chinese place because they had plain rice. I asked the people behind the counter if the rice was plain, and the servers were openly hostile. When I finally order, the woman waiting on me literally tosses the styrofoam box on the counter. Welcome back to American customer service.<br /><br />Our flight to Memphis was delayed several times. While I knew that flights were sometimes delayed, I did not expect that the gate would be changed "on the fly," but when I finally figured out how things worked, I called Dad to tell him about the delays and left a message with my stepmother.<br /><br />When we finally got on a plane headed for Memphis, it was almost 11 at night, and we got to Memphis near midnight. The airport was empty, and the other passengers left quickly. The stalls were closed, and even the security guards were gone. There was one passenger there waiting for a hotel shuttle to pick him up, and then there was us. After he left, we were alone. I gathered the bags near the door and scanned the parking lot.<br /><br />So there I was with a wife who doesn't speak English, a baby in a sling over my shoulder who doesn't speak much of anything, a backpack, and two suitcases, and no one was here to pick us up. I called my Dad's home, but there was no answer. When I called from Chicago, my stepmother B had told me that Dad would wait in the car in the handicapped section. There were a lot of handicapped spaces, and I ran around between them trying to remember what his car looked like.<br /><br />I was caught in a dilemma. If I went to a hotel, it would be like abandoning my father, because he would be left there waiting for us when he arrived, and we did not have a way to contact him. He is handicapped, so he would be sitting there looking for us. However, it was 1:30 in the morning, and I was in a seedy city, loaded down with luggage, and I had a 1-year-old baby strapped in a sling on my chest. I felt vulnerable, and I was responsible for all three of us. R did not even speak English well-enough to recognize threats, and I had to make a decision. This was the beginning of a change in my self-image, particularly regarding my feelings of responsibility for my father's welfare. I was a father now, and that takes precedence over being a son.<br /><br />I called the first hotel I could find at the free hotel phone at the airport. The night manager answered the phone, and though his English was barely comprehensible, he agreed to come and get us. The hotel was owned by an Indian family, and the night manager was probably the father. His English was probably too poor to do the day shift, but he was gentle, quiet, and direct. I thanked him, paid the bill in advance, and got R and the baby settled in the room. I had only 12 USD, so I called Dad's house to see what was up. According to my step-mother, my father had left an hour ago, and he was on his way. As we left the airport in the hotel shuttle, I remembered seeing a small red light in a parked car far from the handicapped spaces that I had checked. I wondered if Dad was in that cold car, waiting in his silent, gentle way, eating vanilla wafers or fig newtons from a zip-lock bag.<br /><br />After getting R and the baby settled in, I talked to the night manager, explained the situation best I could - that my father had come to pick us up but that I could not find him - and told him that I need to go and look for Dad. He misunderstood and thought that I was trying to cancel the room. I assured him that I was not asking for my money back. I just needed a cab.<br /><br />The cab cost 10 USD, leaving me 2 USD... not enough to return to the hotel. I decided I would have to walk back to the hotel if Dad was not there, so I tried to remember the way we took to the airport. <br /><br />I arrived on the upper parking lot, but there was no one there, so I went down to the lower floor, near arrivals, and there was a car waiting right by the doors in a handicapped space. I did not recognize my own father at first. I could not believe it was him sitting in that car. <br /><br />It was not just age but also the injuries and the increased weight. His white, curly hair had grown down to his shoulders, and his beard was wispy and long. He was patiently sitting at the wheel. Understandably, he did not get out of the car to greet me.<br /><br />Our greeting was brief and practical, even dry. I was under too much stress and trying to manage too many things to be affectionate. There was just too much to do. I had to find the way back to the hotel, which was not easy, and I was trying to accept my father's present condition, but the shock was so great that I just put feelings aside and managed the situation.<br /><br />When we arrived at the hotel and Dad shuffled in with his walker, R had cleaned and fed the baby and was waiting for us. This always amazed me about her. She was from a nice middle-class family, and as our relationship progressed, I let her into the Faulkner-esque stories of where I was from, and she never flinched. She never looked down on me for it. She never ran away. And now, in this situation, she had everything set up for grandpa to meet the baby for the first time. The lights were on, she was smiling, and the baby was happy and bright-eyed. It was as picture-perfect as it could be.<br /><br />We introduced the baby and held him up so Dad could put his arms around him. While Dad's hip injury was very bad, his increased weight complicated the matter, making moving around and even sitting very difficult. We helped him hold the baby, and my son pulled his hair and beard.<br /><br />But Dad was tired, and it was "time for my pills". The hotel bed warped under him as he rolled back and forth, slowly moving himself to the center of the bed.<br /><br />I was past 3 in the morning, and the room had double beds, so I asked Dad to sleep there with us. He called his wife, and amazingly she insisted that we all pack up and go back immediately so that Dad could be there to take care of her. His wife B was like that. She was the stone around his neck, and much of the things I have had to overcome began with their marriage when I was six. Life could have been much different for everyone had they parted.<br /><br />But Dad refused her this time. It was better for all of us to go back to Oxford together the next day. Dad asked me to bring his bottle from the car, a wide-mouthed milk jug. He found it difficult to get to the bathroom sometimes.<br /><br />My wife and I sandwiched the baby between us. For the first time, there were three generations of my family in the room. I felt pitiful and rushed, because in spite of having lost 10 years supporting my father, he was in this state, barely shuffling around the room and peeing in a bottle, and he was not even 60 years old yet. I had made very little of my ten years, professionally, and Dad was barely living, too. Not much for me to feel proud about there. But Dad was simple, honest, and direct. Above all, he was kind and good-natured. The pain he was in never came out as anger or even grouchiness. He told me what he needed, and he did what he could. Now he was twitching as he slept, and his breathing stopped and started in fits.<br /><br />I had arrived in America for the first time in 9 years. I had brought my son back to my roots and my family for the first time. I had come full circle, and as I lay in that dark room, listening to the sounds of my father struggling to breathe, my son suckling and cooing, and the heater murmuring, I felt like I was performing a kind of ritual. This was certainly not a happy homecoming, and it was definitely not a vacation. No one would call this restful or fun. This was a right of passage for me, bringing my past into contact with my present, and in doing so, helping me to realize how far I have come and then let go of the past altogether.Shinmaikeruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03533877978281092332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1508400597083177524.post-50540263952299074882013-09-03T07:10:00.001-07:002013-09-03T19:00:39.587-07:00Urashima Taro Part 1: Platinum Smiles<i>From an old blog, this is part 1 an account of when I visited the US in 2006, my first visit after for 9 years of living in Japan.</i><br /><div><br /></div><div>January 24th, 2006</div><br />We woke up early to get the cab to the airport. The apartment had been prepared for departure, and our luggage was logically grouped so that we could concentrate on the baby and leave. Before we left, R had the idea that we should measure ourselves and write a little goal for the trip. I wrote that I would look into graduate schools; R, that she would eat something really delicious. We gave N the goal of having fun with his American relatives.<br /><br />While waiting to board, I saw the pilot at Miyazaki airport open the window to wipe the windshield with a little spray bottle and rag. In system administration, there are people using paper clips to patch cables and fix keyboards, but I thought jet planes would be more... high tech and careful. Is opening that window a good idea? I thought that aviation would be an alchemy of momentum and thrust, balance and lift, but there is the pilot leaning out the window of the cockpit to clean his windshield.<br /><br />We are heading to Tokyo on a plane with what appears to be about over 100 students from Nichinan Agriculture and Forestry High School. For most of them, this is probably their first trip to Tokyo and maybe even their first time on a plane. <br /><br />As we waited at the gate to board, the baby was a big star. Some of the female students asked to have their pictures taken with him. I don't blame them. He is terribly cute.<br /><br />In the cabin, businesspeople, jaded to the whole act of flying, read the news of the arrest of Livedoor's president Horiuchi as we lift off. Most closed their eyes or read their planners while right past their elbow was the miracle of flight. The high school students squealed and applauded at liftoff, as well they should. They have much to look forward to, both long- and short-term, as they are on their way to Tokyo, Japan's Land of Oz.<br /><br />It is a shame that the business commuters continued to be unimpressed with flight, even as the shadows of clouds majestically drifted across the sea. In contrast to excited teens and jaded commuters, my 1-year-old son nursed a bit and then went right to sleep. He had no idea that we are aboard the grand machine he loves to point to in picture books. We live near the airport, and he loves to find airplanes when they pass overhead, pointing to them and saying, "airplane" and "hikouki bun-bun." Before boarding, he was enthralled by the sight of real airplanes dwarfing the people scurrying about below them. However, he did not realize that he was in one, probably because we boarded through a tunnel, not seeing the outside of the plane. It does not look the same from the inside.<br /><br />As for myself, I was in another state, another place of mind. While I was enjoying the novelty of my first trip home in nine years, I was not thinking of myself or my interests and desires at all, only of the wife and child that I had to care for. I would be responsible for navigating and translating the whole time, and I had to get my mind in order.<br /><br />I like to watch people, though. The business flyers carried on with their newspapers, and it was fun to catch the flight attendant reading the front page of the man in the first row... a glimpse of the human behind the uniform. I am always pleased to find these moments, to peek through the role at the person playing it: the extra dab of foundation to cover a pimple, the note written on a backhand or thumb, the fashion magazine clipping sticking out of a uniform pocket.<br /><br />The fashion magazine clipping was a fun discovery. I was on a business trip to Fukuoka a long time ago, looking at Epson printers at the showroom there. The woman attending to me was perfectly ordered and polite, extremely businesslike. I was impressed at the time, because this was the big city of Fukuoka, and she was perfect - conservatively beautiful and poised, never stuttering, never pausing from her perfect speech rhythm and polite Japanese. But then I noticed a face sticking out of the pocket of her uniform. I made a joke about it being a lucky charm or photographic proof of ghosts. It turns out that she was considering making this her next hairstyle for her sister's wedding the next weekend. It was a wonderful moment, as she blushed and suddenly became a person, not a function. Her tone changed, and her polite Japanese become a little warmer, her movements a little more casual. A few levels of politeness fell away like someone peeling back layer after layer of lace curtains.<br /><br />The flight attendant on the Japanese domestic flights were like that, too. They are completely immersed in their role, and finding that person behind the role, the human being performing a function, is very difficult. Catching a flight attendant reading a passenger's newspaper made me feel somehow privileged.<br /><br />These moments remind us that people performing these functions are just that, performing. We call them occupations because they occupy our time. The actions and functions inhabit our days, hours, our entire lives. But we also "occupy" a job or position in the same way that we occupy space or a home. We learn the content of that position and fill that space. The flight attendant occupies her rear-facing chair, her perfect make-up and poise presented to the passengers as a human interface to the airline itself. Not even the most traditional old-world gentleman would offer to help her serve apple juice and chilled green tea, because she occupies that role. She has filled the position, and the position is full of her.<br /><br />Besides, we are too busy being passengers. One of us may be an engineer reviewing Mitsubishi mechanical notes, another a restaurant franchise district manager preparing for an orientation, another a high school boy deciding how he will present himself, and there I was being a young father and inexperienced traveler who had no idea of what he should do when.<br /><br />The transition from All Nippon Airlines to United was a culture shock. ANA flight attendants are like precision instruments: even if the attendant is not young and beautiful, she (always she) is perfect and poised in her role, with no self-consciousness about performing a job. In Japan, even young hooligans with pierced noses and dyed blue hair are perfectly-mannered when on duty at the fast-food shop or pub. The individual never interferes with the role. No matter where you go in Japan, clerks, waitresses, and attendants are their roles, and little evidence of their individuality is visible when they are on duty. The Japanese do not seem to have the same embarrassment about being absorbed by a role or job. <br /><br />The United flight attendants, unlike the All Japan stewardesses, were male and female, and they were older than the All Japan stewardesses... much older. They were stately, round, and mellow, and their approach to the job was not one of filling a role and becoming the job. They were doing the job, and they were doing it well, but they were bringing their own style to it, making each attendant different, with a distinct character. Each one of them brought a part of him- or herself to the job. and each colored the job itself rather than blending in, chameleon-like, to the color of the job. One matronly attendant had a broad Massachusetts accent and gave passengers suggestions like she was giving advice on good living. Another was a precise older man with a mid-Western accent, and his style was matter-of-fact and clean. In this paradigm, you are doing the job because you have chosen to do so.Shinmaikeruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03533877978281092332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1508400597083177524.post-64093644454303732192013-09-02T06:42:00.000-07:002013-09-03T05:36:32.017-07:00OverheardOur NTT landline phone almost never rings. We use our cell phones for everything, so a landline call means something out of the ordinary has happened. My wife answered the phone, and I heard her say "Yes?" and look for me. Something was up.<br /><br />It was my mother. My stepfather had died only 10 minutes ago. He had been unconscious for a week before that, "So it's not like it was a surprise." She would call me when she had more information, but what more information could there be?<br /><br />After she hung up, I checked Skype. Mom had been trying to get me on Skype and had left me a voice recording. "It's your mother. Call me when get this," and then there was a rustling and a thump, and then her voice was farther away, muffled. There was a rhythmic, repetitive whining and hissing, like the beginning of a techno track. I could hear her in the background, "I knew I wouldn't be able to reach him. He must be at work or something. He lives in Okinawa Japan, so he's in the middle of the Pacific. Might be something with the connection." And then a man's voice, very close, grunting in agreement, and then another man's voice, farther away, near Mom. The close grunting continued, out of sync with Mom's voice. I recognized him. It was my stepfather, unconscious. Mom had left Skype recording and dropped the iPad onto the bed. I looked at the screen. The message was 10 minutes long, the limit for Skype.<br /><br />I almost stopped the playback. No one intended for me to hear the rest, but I continued to listen like a morbid voyeur, eavesdropping on him. Mediated by technology and shifted in time, I was lying next to a dying man, and I could hear him groaning and mumbling like a sleep-talker. His verbalizations were a strange, rhythmic commentary to the conversations in the background.<br /><br />The man talking to Mom had a deep voice and a Louisiana accent - probably my step-brother. I haven't seen him for twenty years, so I don't know his voice, but that was probably him, behind the air pumps and the sudden gasps. Mom continued, "It sounds like he's tryin' to wake up, but I don't think he's in pain. We gave him so much morphine."<br /><br />Then there was a woman's voice, and that of a child, a girl. It must be the daughter of my step-sister. They had come to see grandpa. "I never saw him hit his children, or mine, either. He didn't throw chairs or punch holes in walls, never hit a child, or me. More than I can say for a lotta men." Then the rising tone and languid pace of a child's timid questioning, and Mom replies, "Gotta let him rest, honey. Gotta let him rest." More inaudible, distant talking, and then, "No, he wasn't angry at you all that time. He was just hurtin'."<br /><br />I have never seen or heard my mother cry or break down, though I am sure she must have at some point. I was waiting to hear her choke up, to weaken. I thought I would hear her voice drop as she started to cry, but no. Not in the recording, at least. She was as she had always been - deadpan, matter-of-fact, and unsentimental... resolved. "There's some bad people in this world, and sometimes bad shit happens, but you gotta just keep on keepin' on." That was her outlook on life. Life is hard, and perseverance and dignity in the face of misfortune is the measure of a person's virtue.<br /><br />At some point, I could only hear distant thuds, and then the voices went away. I was left alone with him, just the two of us. I could imagine him there, inert but for the movement of his chest and throat, and next to him, I am craning my ear close to the PC speaker, listening intently. In that moment, we are in his time, and I am a ghost, eavesdropping from just a few hours in the future, when he no longer will be. I listen with a mixture of shame and duty, like a time-shifted priest or an archeologist, until the recording ends, and he is silent.Shinmaikeruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03533877978281092332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1508400597083177524.post-62961384206686463852013-08-27T06:57:00.003-07:002013-08-27T17:57:41.298-07:00Hihachi Never Again<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nM255oya438/Uhyc9-HWKzI/AAAAAAAAAuA/zHuSIjhK4r8/s1600/IMG_0428.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nM255oya438/Uhyc9-HWKzI/AAAAAAAAAuA/zHuSIjhK4r8/s1600/IMG_0428.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>This is Ms. Shouko Toma. She raises vegetables and plants and sells them at Onna No Eki. She is delightful and friendly.<br /><br />There are many small farmers like Ms. Toma who sell their plant products at Onna No Eki, and I really enjoy asking them things like, "What on earth IS this, and how do I eat it?"<br /><br />That is exactly what I did with the red seed pods she is holding in her hand. They are called "hihachi", and she told me to throw them in some broth with meat and veggies. I asked her if I can eat them as-is or if I have to cut off the little stems, and she said no, but she did say, "They are a little spicy." I was very intrigued, and being a native of Louisiana, I am no stranger to spicy.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ghIacQE5N2g/UhyjM_jUEnI/AAAAAAAAAuQ/xp18t8ZujbQ/s1600/IMG_0441.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ghIacQE5N2g/UhyjM_jUEnI/AAAAAAAAAuQ/xp18t8ZujbQ/s1600/IMG_0441.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>So I also bought some unusual leafy vegetables that I had been curious about. This is つるむらさき or Malabar Spinach. The leaves are thick and fragrant. It has "character" and a lot of nutrients. Probably anti-oxidants, too.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l1WX9IgNB6A/UhyjM9wlfzI/AAAAAAAAAuU/h71PH73Paxg/s1600/IMG_0443.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l1WX9IgNB6A/UhyjM9wlfzI/AAAAAAAAAuU/h71PH73Paxg/s1600/IMG_0443.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I also bought this. It is シビラン, also known as African Spinach, according to Google. It is also very fragrant.</div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The next step was to get 鶏ガラ (chicken bones) from the supermarket, make a broth, and then chill it overnight to remove the fat. I kept the heat low and ended up with a near-ideal clear chicken broth. No fogginess at all.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So I heated my broth and then added garlic, onions, and minced chicken that I found in the freezer. It was a nice broth, rich but subtle. I carefully added salt to get it just right and then cut my Malabar and African spinach and washed my Hihachi. I was ready.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In went the Hihachi, then the exotic greens. I didn't want to overcook the leaves, but I was distracted by by a strange smell coming from somewhere. It smelled like old incense and forgotten shame, like wood shavings in a poorly-written, under-researched short story. I assumed that my kids has spilled something, and then I realized it was my soup.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So here is the result - chicken and hihachi soup with African and Malabar spinach...&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jI4sO8X9_mc/UhyjUuRTxfI/AAAAAAAAAug/8PizqcKFsi8/s1600/IMG_0436.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jI4sO8X9_mc/UhyjUuRTxfI/AAAAAAAAAug/8PizqcKFsi8/s1600/IMG_0436.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />and it had a great deal of character, so much, in fact, that I had to throw it out.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--2Np2fIKyWY/UhytPKOrK7I/AAAAAAAAAuw/t-4138xtya4/s1600/IMG_0440.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--2Np2fIKyWY/UhytPKOrK7I/AAAAAAAAAuw/t-4138xtya4/s1600/IMG_0440.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I also had to run the kitchen exhaust fan all night. And apologize to the wife. And cook up some gyouza to make up for the lack of a main dish. Still, it was fun, and we had a great laugh.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The "little spicy" of which I was warned should have been more like, "These red seed pods are dried and ground for use as a substitute for pepper." Eating the actual hihachi is not recommended... at all. I ate one. That was enough.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Another problem was that I couldn't get the smell off my hands. They smelled like poorly-conceived fiction or expired wood polish. I think it was a combination of the fragrant greens and the hihachi, a failed experiment.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And yet, I will return to Onna No Eki and thank Ms. Toma for my adventure, and I will buy other things from her if I have the chance. I should have been more conservative and researched before jumping in the soup pot. The fault was all mine, but still, it was a very fun failure.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That being said, no more Hihachi. Never again.</div>Shinmaikeruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03533877978281092332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1508400597083177524.post-6431537594324326992013-08-03T22:03:00.000-07:002016-06-25T00:05:13.914-07:00Quest for Kunpen, Part 3: Shuri KunpenThis is the third and final post in the series "Quest for Kunpen". Please start with the first post "<a href="http://shinmaikeru.blogspot.com/2013/08/quest-for-kunpen-part-1-why.html" target="_blank">Quest for Kunpen, Part 1 - Why?</a>" to understand the what and why of the project.<br /><br />I came to know of these last three kunpen through gifts and recommendations from people who heard about my project. All three are from specialty stores in the Shuri area of Naha, near the very famous Shuri Castle that was the home of the ancient Ryukyuu kingdom.<br /><br />I decided to buy all of them in one trip to Shuri after bringing my family to the airport for a trip to the grandparents. I wanted to get these three makes of kunpen together and really think deeply about the kunpen - a process I will call "kunpenplation" (registered copyright).<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://plus.google.com/106329885446280296995/about?gl=jp&amp;hl=en" target="_blank">座波菓子店 Zaha Kashiten</a></b></span><br />住所 沖縄県那覇市首里石嶺町3-6-1<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />The first time I had Zaha kunpen was on the way home from a trip to Naha with my family. A coworker recommended Zaha Kashiten for kunpen, so I had already registered the address in Google Maps. I was in Naha, and it was late in the evening. I was not sure if the shop would be open, so I called. A woman answered. When I explained that I had driven from Onna and wanted kunpen, she told me that she would open the store for me. As I pulled into the parking space, the shutter slowly rose and a few lights went on. She went about her business while I filled a basket with 40 kunpen to share with people at work. I asked her if she was the owner, and she said she was the mother of the current president, who is the "san-dai-me" or third generation to run the store.<br />The second time I visited the store, I met her son, who was just as natural and friendly as his mother.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-W9rVkk5tMFw/Uf3Xx0sAsFI/AAAAAAAAAtc/29kLqrt_SVk/s1600/zaha-sandaime_IMG_0348.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-W9rVkk5tMFw/Uf3Xx0sAsFI/AAAAAAAAAtc/29kLqrt_SVk/s640/zaha-sandaime_IMG_0348.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zaha Sandaime</td></tr></tbody></table>Now on to the kunpen.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-58y3Jq_U-oc/Uf3XyobCrWI/AAAAAAAAAtk/4eRbiGR8cXo/s1600/zaha_IMG_0353.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-58y3Jq_U-oc/Uf3XyobCrWI/AAAAAAAAAtk/4eRbiGR8cXo/s640/zaha_IMG_0353.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zaha Kunpen</td></tr></tbody></table>The gawa is like a soft cookie, very mildly sweet and comforting. The filling is about equal in proportion to the bun and smells strongly of peanut butter. No sesame here. The texture of the filling is pasty, with just a hint of sandy sugar. All in all, the Zaha kunpen is comforting, soft, and subtle, a delightful and simple treat with milk.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://plus.google.com/107607179548690199408/about?hl=en" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>新垣カミ菓子店 Arakaki Kami Kashiten</b></span></a><br />沖縄県那覇市首里 赤平町1-3-2<br /><br />Having read about Arakaki Kami on the internet, I decided to visit the "honpo" or original store in Shuri. It is not a drive for the faint of heart or those who lack a car navigation system. You go through narrow, winding roads and then turn off into a two-way street that at first glance might be mistaken for a footpath, &nbsp;barely affording space for even one car to pass. You coast downhill past homes and old buildings until you see the shop, which is pretty easy to miss.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BujWykGJH2s/Uf3Xv0Oe3cI/AAAAAAAAAs4/FwdaGtIzw5U/s1600/arakaki-kami-mise_IMG_0345.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BujWykGJH2s/Uf3Xv0Oe3cI/AAAAAAAAAs4/FwdaGtIzw5U/s640/arakaki-kami-mise_IMG_0345.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arakaki-Kami HQ</td></tr></tbody></table>It looks like a early- or mid-Showa storefront, with a hand-painted sign, no electric banners, and only a tiny space for customers to stand before the very old glass cases. The sliding door is reluctant and squeaky, and the aluminum and glass of the storefront seems decades away from the plate glass and faux-adobe of modern flashy Okinawan tourist traps.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UcXLemNZ9os/Uf3Xv8QM-iI/AAAAAAAAAs8/laoign8FVxM/s1600/arakaki-kami-okaasan_IMG_0344.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UcXLemNZ9os/Uf3Xv8QM-iI/AAAAAAAAAs8/laoign8FVxM/s640/arakaki-kami-okaasan_IMG_0344.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Half of the Sixth Generation of Arakaki-Kami and the mother of the Seventh Generation or Nanadaime</td></tr></tbody></table>Again, the woman behind the counter was the mother of the current president, but in this case, the current president is the "nana-dai-me" or seventh generation to run the store. This family has been making traditional Ryukyuu sweets for seven generations, forgoing fads like strawberry shortcake, soft "nama" chocolate, and the more recent goya jelly to continue making only makes fives kinds of traditional Ryukyuu ceremonial sweets. And kunpen is one of them.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ka2BJt10t_A/Uf3Xv9LMcsI/AAAAAAAAAtE/N4BvEc9B_94/s1600/arakaki-kami_IMG_0352.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ka2BJt10t_A/Uf3Xv9LMcsI/AAAAAAAAAtE/N4BvEc9B_94/s640/arakaki-kami_IMG_0352.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arakaki-Kami Kunpen</td></tr></tbody></table>The kunpen looks different from others, but the flavor differs even more. There is a crack on the side of each kunpen, and they are more irregular than others. The gawa smells and tastes like a good egg cookie - wholesome, simple, only slightly sweet. Very sincere, the gawa is just sweet enough. There is very, very little filling, and like many historical, traditional sweets, it is not very sweet at all. We have come to expect the super-sweetness of modern confections, mass-produced in an age of abundant, cheap corn syrup, but this filling contains both peanut butter and sesame and has that crystalline crunchiness that you find in middle-eastern sesame sweets.<br /><br />The sweetness of the kunpen comes from the bun.&nbsp;At first impression, there seems too little filling for size of the bun, but when you taste it, you realize that any more of this filling would be overwhelming. It really is something to experience.&nbsp;The filling is more smoky than sweet, with a really intense sesame flavor that fills the mouth and shoots from the nose, exploding in the short moment when you hit it. The rest of the time, you are contentedly chewing through the mild bun in high-carb bliss.<br /><br />Any kunpen is a bit dry without a beverage, but with a cup of straight tea - assam in my case - this kunpen was flowery, fragrant, and wonderful.<br /><br />Sweets like this heighten the senses with subtle flavors and mild sweetness, letting the ingredients shine through, unlike the bludgeoning effect of some more modern creations, most of which are advertised by smug-yet-inclusive voice-overs saying, "Treat your family to the new Cro-Magnon butter-scotch and fudge brownie three-scoop ice cream sundae at Fatty Fridays. Come on a weekday and get a coupon for free dialysis with every order."<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://plus.google.com/100269610688525307196/about?gl=jp&amp;hl=en" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>知念製菓 Chinen Seika</b></span></a><br />那覇市首里石嶺町2-260-1<br /><br />This was the last stop on my kunpen parade through Shuri. The store is small but new, right on the main tourist street, and behind the counter was none other than the "ni-dai-me" or second-generation president, the father of the "san-dai-me" or third generation who currently heads the company.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gKWEmWCuWj8/Uf3Xw6QT2uI/AAAAAAAAAtM/BHcqIH0IaBc/s1600/chinen-nidaime_IMG_0347.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gKWEmWCuWj8/Uf3Xw6QT2uI/AAAAAAAAAtM/BHcqIH0IaBc/s640/chinen-nidaime_IMG_0347.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chinen Nidaime</td></tr></tbody></table>The Nidaime was wily and challenging when I asked him about kunpen. He made it clear that Shuri is the place to find real kunpen and that Chinen was very popular. I asked him about other traditional sweets, and he said that when he is asked for authentic chinsuko (a kind of Okinawan shortbread), he sends people to Arakaki-Kami, but he isn't budging on the quality of his kunpen or the new mainland Japanese sweets being introduced by his son, the Sandaime. It turns out that the new young president studied Wagashi (mainland Japanese sweets) on Honshu and is introducing new items like Yabure-manju to raise the profile of Chinen even further.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i27qCnR3aec/Uf3XxrSi8JI/AAAAAAAAAtU/N7giqEnVnq8/s1600/chinen_IMG_0350.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i27qCnR3aec/Uf3XxrSi8JI/AAAAAAAAAtU/N7giqEnVnq8/s640/chinen_IMG_0350.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chinen Kunpen</td></tr></tbody></table>Now back to the Chinen kunpen. Chinen kunpen are for people who love nuts. When you open the bag, you get a wonderful puff of peanut fragrance. When you cut one in half, you can see the whole sesame mixed into the filling. The bun is chewier than most others and a little sweeter than the more traditional Arakaki-Kami kunpen. With this kunpen, the filling is the star by far. First of all, there is a lot of filling in each kunpen. And then there is the texture - you can feel the individual sesame seeds, and biting down on them changes the flavor has you chew. The filling also has that crystalline crunchiness you get in middle eastern sesame sweets, and the fragrance and flavor of the peanut butter is terrific. This is very strong, flashy, bold kunpen - sweeter and stronger than Zaha or Arakaki-Kami. The flavor holds its own with pretty much any beverage. I had this with a homemade cafe-au-lait and did not regret it one little bit.<br /><br /><br />And so I conclude my Quest for Kunpen. I very much enjoyed going in deep on this easily-overlooked part of Okinawan cuisine. I hope you try it for yourself.<br /><br />This is the third of four installments:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://shinmaikeru.blogspot.jp/2013/08/quest-for-kunpen-part-1-why.html" target="_blank">Quest for Kunpen, Part 1: Why</a></li><li><a href="http://shinmaikeru.blogspot.com/2013/08/quest-for-kunpen-part-2-department.html" target="_blank">Quest for Kunpen, Part 2: Department Store Kunpen</a>&nbsp;in which I review 14 kunpen found in department stores</li><li><a href="http://shinmaikeru.blogspot.com/2013/08/quest-for-kunpen-part-3-shuri-kunpen.html" target="_blank">Quest for Kunpen, Part 3: Shuri Kunpen</a>&nbsp;in which I review three very special kunpen from Shuri</li><li><a href="http://shinmaikeru.blogspot.jp/2016/06/quest-for-kunpen-part-four-naha-by.html" target="_blank">Quest for Kunpen, Part 4: Naha by Chance</a>&nbsp;in which I add some Naha old town favorites</li></ul>Shinmaikeruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03533877978281092332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1508400597083177524.post-86463875601114611292013-08-03T21:18:00.000-07:002016-06-25T00:04:16.770-07:00Quest for Kunpen, Part 2: Department Store Kunpen<br />This is the second part of a three-part series. Please read <a href="http://shinmaikeru.blogspot.jp/2013/08/quest-for-kunpen-part-1-why.html" target="_blank">the first part of the series - Why?</a> to get an idea of what Kunpen is and why I am doing this set of reviews.<br /><br />I started my kunpen reviews by just buying whatever kunpen I could find at grocery stores, department stores, shops in tourist areas, and wherever else I came across them. Most of these easily-found kunpen turned out to be unexceptional… except for two: Miyagi and Sakumoto Mochiten.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">御菓子御殿 Okashi Goten</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JwBgFn1ajvw/Uf3PGk9ZUuI/AAAAAAAAArc/Qbn5BysDYD4/s1600/okashigoten_IMG_0213.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JwBgFn1ajvw/Uf3PGk9ZUuI/AAAAAAAAArc/Qbn5BysDYD4/s400/okashigoten_IMG_0213.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Okashi-goten Kunpen</td></tr></tbody></table><br />This Okinawan landmark is known for its purple potato tarts, but it also offers two kinds of kunpen - large and small. The large konpen is more about the gawa or bun, which is soft but flavorful, not too sweet, with a whole-grain flavor. The filling is unexceptional.<br /><br />The smaller Okashi Goten konpen, which has a different package, has the same soft gawa, but the filling has more sesame flavor and is gentle and not too sweet.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">サニー食品 Sunny Shokuhin</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>Quite hard and dry bun, with harder filling, too. The filling is a little crunchy and much sweeter than the Okashi Goten. However, other than sweet, there is not much flavor or character here. So uninspiring that I forgot to take a photo.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">株式会社誠もち店 Makoto Mochiten - Beni-Imo Kunpen</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M4dKpwIirKA/Uf3TfE-OPSI/AAAAAAAAAsc/QFppE80dbc0/s1600/makoto-beni-imo_IMG_0227.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M4dKpwIirKA/Uf3TfE-OPSI/AAAAAAAAAsc/QFppE80dbc0/s400/makoto-beni-imo_IMG_0227.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Makoto Mochiten Beni-imo Kunpen</td></tr></tbody></table><div>The "Beni-imo Kunpen" has a very small amount of filling for the size of the bun. No nutty smell at all, which makes sense because it does not contain sesame or peanuts. It contains purple sweet potato, and this brings up the question of whether it is kunpen or not. The whole reason I am trying all these kunpen is to find something nutty and delicious. This is not kunpen. That having been said, the bun is chewy and sweet, quite nice. And the beni-imo filling is not bad. But again, it ain't kunpen, people! Having purple potato kunpen is like having a plate of steaming non-dairy, sugarless, eggless liver and onions ice cream. It might taste good, but it ain't ice cream. It's liver with onions, dammit! I think I have made my point and will move on now.</div><br /><span style="font-size: large;">株式会社誠もち店 Makoto Mochiten - Kokuto Kunpen</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BzCrskkR0IU/Uf3TfSFAQ1I/AAAAAAAAAsM/ubu5ATR7HT4/s1600/makoto-kokuto_IMG_0225.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BzCrskkR0IU/Uf3TfSFAQ1I/AAAAAAAAAsM/ubu5ATR7HT4/s400/makoto-kokuto_IMG_0225.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Makoto Mochiten Kokuto Kunpen</td></tr></tbody></table>The "Kokuto Kunpen" contains sesame but no peanuts. The smell is more malty than nutty. The bun is nice, enhanced by the complex flavor of "kokutou" or Okinawan raw sugar. However, the filling is small and forgettable.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">吉兆 Kichimomo</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-18G-Swg-1j0/Uf3TfHiO2FI/AAAAAAAAAsY/IjD-yXf5xL0/s1600/kichimomo_IMG_0226.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-18G-Swg-1j0/Uf3TfHiO2FI/AAAAAAAAAsY/IjD-yXf5xL0/s400/kichimomo_IMG_0226.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kichimomo Kunpen</td></tr></tbody></table>Good peanut smell, but both filling and bun have the same texture and moistness, or rather lack thereof. This one somehow seems not quite cooked. It is too blonde and dull, with no edge - a pasty milksop of a kunpen. Go home to your mamma, wimpy kunpen. You are too weak for the mean streets of my teeth.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">大福製菓 Daifuku Seika</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4q7XDAkYyFA/Uf3UH_8j2BI/AAAAAAAAAsg/UNyaB8YO2hM/s1600/daifuku_IMG_0243.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4q7XDAkYyFA/Uf3UH_8j2BI/AAAAAAAAAsg/UNyaB8YO2hM/s400/daifuku_IMG_0243.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Daifuku Seika Kunpen</td></tr></tbody></table>Only five ingredients, with no unpronounceable chemical ones and no sesame at all. Decidedly peanut-rich smell, and the shape and placement of the filling suggests that it is hand-made or at least made with minimal automation. The bun is soft and cookie-like, but not pasty. Flavor is slightly sweet, making for a wholesome, filling, and inexpensive kunpen - very simple and honest.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">南風堂株式会社 Nanpudo</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-50_H9hKEheI/Uf3PGFMw4oI/AAAAAAAAArg/Dae2sWSB-LU/s1600/nanpudo_IMG_0246.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-50_H9hKEheI/Uf3PGFMw4oI/AAAAAAAAArg/Dae2sWSB-LU/s400/nanpudo_IMG_0246.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nanpudo Kunpen</td></tr></tbody></table>Highest filling-to-bun ratio so far. Nutty fragrance that shows good balance between peanuts and sesame. Bun is soft and flaky, not cookie-light but crumbly and slightly chewy. Comforting and mild, it would make a suitable post-heartbreak snack.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">マルキヨ製菓 Marukiyo Seika</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l5e31XAu5oo/Uf3PFH4QOsI/AAAAAAAAArI/qNdfDhvN6og/s1600/marukiyo_IMG_0249.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l5e31XAu5oo/Uf3PFH4QOsI/AAAAAAAAArI/qNdfDhvN6og/s400/marukiyo_IMG_0249.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marukiyo Kunpen</td></tr></tbody></table>No strong fragrance. Shiro-an, peanut butter, sesame. Bun is medium hardness with little chewiness. Filling is like bland white bean paste. The sesame flavor is stronger than the peanut flavor, but neither stand out. Average.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">大城製菓 Oshiro Seika</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yTA3udljnQg/Uf3PGzpOWpI/AAAAAAAAArs/qlNRrcHVE8s/s1600/oshiro_IMG_0263.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yTA3udljnQg/Uf3PGzpOWpI/AAAAAAAAArs/qlNRrcHVE8s/s400/oshiro_IMG_0263.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oshiro Kunpen</td></tr></tbody></table>Big thick filling with slightly sweet, indifferent bun. Not much to like. Very little moisture. Very little character.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">株式会社くしけんSS Gushiken SS</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-smSdjLsVd28/Uf3PFB2OlhI/AAAAAAAAArQ/mT6sY__WotA/s1600/gushiken_IMG_0264.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-smSdjLsVd28/Uf3PFB2OlhI/AAAAAAAAArQ/mT6sY__WotA/s400/gushiken_IMG_0264.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gushiken Kunpen</td></tr></tbody></table>Impressive appearance. Whole white and black sesame in the filling. Very strong sesame flavor, with good peanut flavor, too. The bun is pretty average, but on the whole, comfortingly mild.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">佐和田 Sawada</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jBg2P9E2ANg/Uf3PH4gLDLI/AAAAAAAAAr8/0DcNUOSbWxQ/s1600/sawada_IMG_0293.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jBg2P9E2ANg/Uf3PH4gLDLI/AAAAAAAAAr8/0DcNUOSbWxQ/s400/sawada_IMG_0293.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sawada Kunpen</td></tr></tbody></table>The package seems to be a generic wrapper used by several kunpen makers. The flavor is similar, too. This is a good example of what some Okinawans told me they don't like about kunpen - a base of slightly dry anko bean paste mixed with sesame peanut butter in an unexceptional, flavorless bun. That being said, the filling is dry but tasty, with visible bits of peanut in it, so be sure to have a good beverage. Okay with tea or milk.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">みやぎ菓子店 Miyagi Kashiten</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lK-thF8G3W0/Uf3PFV8_ttI/AAAAAAAAArU/m_WYqr_SOIk/s1600/miyagi_IMG_0252.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lK-thF8G3W0/Uf3PFV8_ttI/AAAAAAAAArU/m_WYqr_SOIk/s400/miyagi_IMG_0252.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Miyagi Kunpen from Ishigaki Island</td></tr></tbody></table>I found this one mixed in with the cheap sweet breads at the Sun-A Gushikawa Main City department store, but it is anything but just another kunpen. Strong peanut fragrance. Thin bun with lots of filling. The bun is very subtle, harder than others but not cookie-like, with a hearty wheat flavor. The filling is crunchy, rich in peanut yumminess. This is good kunpen, with a nice balance of peanut and sesame. The filling has that crystalline sesame sandiness you find in some middle-eastern sweets, and it is just sweet enough. This is very good kunpen.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">佐久本もち店 Sakumoto Mochiten Konpen</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oEwhsiij_Mg/Uf3PHdzZKgI/AAAAAAAAAr4/GdRUlhRlqtw/s1600/sakumoto-mochiten_IMG_0261.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oEwhsiij_Mg/Uf3PHdzZKgI/AAAAAAAAAr4/GdRUlhRlqtw/s400/sakumoto-mochiten_IMG_0261.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sakumoto Kunpen</td></tr></tbody></table>The other department store surprise, this kunpen has a nice, nutty fragrance and a moist bun which is like a soft cookie. The filling is like a thin ribbon, but with nice sesame and peanut chunks in it. I was very surprised by this unassuming package and the really yummy bun. The filling was a nice accent to this tasty cookie. Surprisingly good kunpen, and very similar to the Arakaki Kami kunpen. After the Sakumoto kunpen, you won't want to go back to the white characterless bean-paste type.<br /><div><br />Go on to <a href="http://shinmaikeru.blogspot.com/2013/08/quest-for-kunpen-part-3-shuri-kunpen.html" target="_blank">the third&nbsp;part of the series - Shuri Kunpen</a>.<br /><br />This is the second of four installments:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://shinmaikeru.blogspot.jp/2013/08/quest-for-kunpen-part-1-why.html" target="_blank">Quest for Kunpen, Part 1: Why</a></li><li><a href="http://shinmaikeru.blogspot.com/2013/08/quest-for-kunpen-part-2-department.html" target="_blank">Quest for Kunpen, Part 2: Department Store Kunpen</a>&nbsp;in which I review 14 kunpen found in department stores</li><li><a href="http://shinmaikeru.blogspot.com/2013/08/quest-for-kunpen-part-3-shuri-kunpen.html" target="_blank">Quest for Kunpen, Part 3: Shuri Kunpen</a>&nbsp;in which I review three very special kunpen from Shuri</li><li><a href="http://shinmaikeru.blogspot.jp/2016/06/quest-for-kunpen-part-four-naha-by.html" target="_blank">Quest for Kunpen, Part 4: Naha by Chance</a>&nbsp;in which I add some Naha old town favorites</li></ul><br /></div>Shinmaikeruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03533877978281092332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1508400597083177524.post-64908021567329918032013-08-03T19:52:00.000-07:002016-06-25T00:04:22.469-07:00Quest for Kunpen, Part 1: Why<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--7wIyz3FnCo/Uf3BivPPwXI/AAAAAAAAAqg/lJrYH0T8-P4/s1600/kunpen-title.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--7wIyz3FnCo/Uf3BivPPwXI/AAAAAAAAAqg/lJrYH0T8-P4/s1600/kunpen-title.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />I had just arrived in Okinawa, and I was looking through some local sweets and asking the store clerk about them, "What is this Kunpen… is it like a manju?" "Kind of," she replied, "but it has peanut butter in it." I was hooked. Having lived in Japan for 18 years, a lot of me has "gone native", but I am still hopelessly addicted to peanut butter, and the prospect of a peanut-butter-rich dessert was too good to ignore.<br /><br />Kunpen, also known as Konpen or Kunpin, is an Okinawan "o-sonai-mono" or offering - special foods that are placed on a family shrine as an offering to one's ancestors. During the summer observance of Okinawa's "shiimii", which is analogous to mainland Japan's "o-bon", families gather to catch up, play with cousins, and tell thread-bare stories of shared embarrassments. The express purpose of the holiday is to pay respects to deceased family members, but it is really a way to reinforce family ties. In mainland Japan, family members gather at the home of the current head of the family, and they determine that by a combination of familial arithmetic plus tweaking for circumstance and convenience. In Okinawa, families gather to picnic at the main family tomb, and kunpen is usually a part of the meal.<br /><br />One Okinawan co-worker told me that he did not like kunpen when he was younger, but as he ages, the "soboku" or plain, simple character becomes more and more pleasing. A younger Okinawan co-worker told me that for her kunpen is comfort-food - mild, familiar, and trustworthy; when she feels down or anxious, she goes to Zaha for a kunpen (see the review below), and things just seem better.<br /><br />The dependability and honesty of the unchanging, unassuming kunpen became the focus of my interest. The Japanese snack food industry is aggressive about innovation and variety, turning out new flavors and gimmicks so fast that many consumers never get a chance to try a new flavor before it disappears. And the need for variety results in some pretty wild products. A few years ago, I remember feeling ill after washing down a bag of Kalbi Wasabi Beef Potato Chips with a Cucumber Sprite, but that was still better than when I tried a Cherry-Blossom Kit-Kat with a can of Nestle Sparkling Cafe - cold, sweet, carbonated black coffee. In Japan, crazy and creative snacks, gum, candy, and drinks are debuted and withdrawn all the time, but amidst it all, traditional sweets like the kunpen stay the same. They are the rocks in the tide, the bass and drums in the jazz jam, and that is why I decided to do a selfish and subjective review of as many kunpen as I could find.<br /><br />Kunpen look like large, fat cookies or baked versions of Chinese steamed dim-sum buns. They consist of a bready or cookie-like "gawa" (skin) or bun and sweetened peanut butter, sesame and/or bean paste "goo" or filling in the center.<br /><br />This is the first of four installments:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://shinmaikeru.blogspot.jp/2013/08/quest-for-kunpen-part-1-why.html" target="_blank">Quest for Kunpen, Part 1: Why</a></li><li><a href="http://shinmaikeru.blogspot.com/2013/08/quest-for-kunpen-part-2-department.html" target="_blank">Quest for Kunpen, Part 2: Department Store Kunpen</a>&nbsp;in which I review 14 kunpen found in department stores</li><li><a href="http://shinmaikeru.blogspot.com/2013/08/quest-for-kunpen-part-3-shuri-kunpen.html" target="_blank">Quest for Kunpen, Part 3: Shuri Kunpen</a>&nbsp;in which I review three very special kunpen from Shuri</li><li><a href="http://shinmaikeru.blogspot.jp/2016/06/quest-for-kunpen-part-four-naha-by.html" target="_blank">Quest for Kunpen, Part 4: Naha by Chance</a> in which I add some Naha old town favorites</li></ul>Shinmaikeruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03533877978281092332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1508400597083177524.post-88781159900078564472013-05-05T16:54:00.001-07:002013-05-05T16:54:20.496-07:00Sansui Coffee Review<div class="p1">For the past few months, I had been buying coffee beans from the Starbucks in Okinawa City, but since that means a 30-minute drive from where I live, I decided to local shops that roast their own. I live in Onna, so no matter where I buy them, I will have to drive a while to get there. Of the shops I found, one is here in Onna - Sansui Coffee in Yamada.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eZlEK54piG8/UYbwcOGkKpI/AAAAAAAAApY/VM7RQVRmH88/s1600/IMG_0151.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eZlEK54piG8/UYbwcOGkKpI/AAAAAAAAApY/VM7RQVRmH88/s1600/IMG_0151.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><div class="p1">The shop is off of Route 6 in Yamada, but it is really easy to miss. Use your car navigation system or a smart phone.</div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1">Like other local roasters, they have a display of green coffee beans arranged near the entrance, but behind them are the bulk roasters visible behind a window. They only do large batches, but they roast almost daily, so no matter when you visit, there should be something fresh and waiting.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-W_rg9Ws7Tes/UYbwbXXaYmI/AAAAAAAAApQ/zP-xaE8cWzU/s1600/IMG_0149.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-W_rg9Ws7Tes/UYbwbXXaYmI/AAAAAAAAApQ/zP-xaE8cWzU/s1600/IMG_0149.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><div class="p1">Though Sansui has other shops and is sold here all over Okinawa, this is the headquarters where they roast the beans. The owner is a generous and friendly native of Okinawa who has been roasting coffee for over 20 years. She helped me choose by offering single bean samples to crunch and taste. I&nbsp;took a Kilimanjaro dark roast that the owner said had been done just that day. The beans were still warm.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Jo2yuEZ7ifU/UYbwaZHNJpI/AAAAAAAAApI/54W3JCWlIws/s1600/IMG_0147.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Jo2yuEZ7ifU/UYbwaZHNJpI/AAAAAAAAApI/54W3JCWlIws/s1600/IMG_0147.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><div class="p1">The moment I got home, I ground the beans and tried it out. At 1.5 minutes in a French press, it was crisp and dark… clean with good body. At 3 minutes in the press it was thick and heavy, almost overwhelming, but not sour or overly bitter.</div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1">This coffee is more than worth a trip to Yamada and navigating the narrow road and tiny parking lot. Good people, good coffee, and the price per gram for most of their coffee is the same or less than I was paying at Starbucks, so consider this a guilt-free luxury. Another good thing about Sansui is that their member' s point cards do not expire, so you can slowly build up points to get free coffee.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gmFfVl9QWCw/UYbwckxZH8I/AAAAAAAAApg/-mx5TQjXz5Y/s1600/IMG_0152.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gmFfVl9QWCw/UYbwckxZH8I/AAAAAAAAApg/-mx5TQjXz5Y/s1600/IMG_0152.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1">Sansui Coffee</div><div class="p1">239 Yamada, Onna-son, Okinawa 904-0416</div><div class="p1">TEL&amp;FAX:098-964-4723</div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1">サンスイ珈琲 会社概要</div><div class="p1">〒904-0416 沖縄県恩納村山田239（本社・焙煎工場）</div><div class="p1">TEL&amp;FAX:098-964-4723</div>Shinmaikeruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03533877978281092332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1508400597083177524.post-72629262522925997292013-05-05T16:04:00.002-07:002013-05-05T16:05:39.749-07:00Good Company Coffee Roasters Review<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Intrigued by blog posts about locally-roasted coffee and people who roast their own beans at home, I searched the internet for nearby coffee roasters. I found a place called Good Company in Uruma City, but only by the grace of Google Maps on a smart phone. The building looks like a cottage retreat.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zmGUpk8h0Oo/UYbfhCu2KwI/AAAAAAAAAo0/MulcE_SrLCA/s1600/IMG_0141.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zmGUpk8h0Oo/UYbfhCu2KwI/AAAAAAAAAo0/MulcE_SrLCA/s1600/IMG_0141.JPG" height="240" title="Good Company Coffee Roasters, Uruma City" width="320" /></a></div><div class="" style="clear: both;">Near the door was an arrangement of barrels and burlap sacks full of green coffee beans, each labeled with country of origin and price per 200 grams. Good Company is a roast-to-order coffee bean shop where you select the beans (they're actually seeds), and they roast them while you wait.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YMNV87wCeF0/UYbfeesARAI/AAAAAAAAAok/WHofyKlCcbY/s1600/IMG_0133.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YMNV87wCeF0/UYbfeesARAI/AAAAAAAAAok/WHofyKlCcbY/s1600/IMG_0133.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><div class="" style="clear: both;">Junko and Masaki Nakamoto have been doing this for the past 17 years. While bulk roasting with large ovens in the back of the store are probably more profitable, this single-order roasting keeps people coming back.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OnCRf4vtlV0/UYbfg2mWhiI/AAAAAAAAAow/Lh2_ugnDLY0/s1600/IMG_0140.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OnCRf4vtlV0/UYbfg2mWhiI/AAAAAAAAAow/Lh2_ugnDLY0/s1600/IMG_0140.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It is both experiment and performance art, because while you go home with any bean variety roasted any way you like, you also get to watch the owners heat, toss, cool, and clean the beans for you while enjoying a complimentary cup of coffee and a chat.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jkGOCLrYc_o/UYbfepUq-ZI/AAAAAAAAAog/Dq5lbZPzHug/s1600/IMG_0137.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jkGOCLrYc_o/UYbfepUq-ZI/AAAAAAAAAog/Dq5lbZPzHug/s1600/IMG_0137.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>An added bonus is seeing their roasting equipment, which looks like the love child of a smithy and a steam punk barbecue grill.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Sof0OfIN3G0/UYbfeQl9tvI/AAAAAAAAAoc/XDej_v47Tuw/s1600/IMG_0136.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Sof0OfIN3G0/UYbfeQl9tvI/AAAAAAAAAoc/XDej_v47Tuw/s1600/IMG_0136.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><div class="" style="clear: both;">I picked a Dark City Roast of their Special Blend, and it really was very nice - fresh and fruity, yet dark and smooth, with no sourness.</div><div class="" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="" style="clear: both;">Good Company Coffee Roasters</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">1943-1 Taba, Uruma City, Okinawa Prefecture</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Japan 904-2213</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">TEL:098-974-2002</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">珈琲豆焙煎工房グッドカンパニー</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">〒904-2213 沖縄県うるま市田場1943-1</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">TEL:098-974-2002</div>Shinmaikeruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03533877978281092332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1508400597083177524.post-24748129100830536332012-03-06T04:55:00.003-08:002012-03-06T05:15:13.965-08:00And I thought I was a long-timerBeen in Japan since 1994, 17 years now, and I am a super gaijin - fluent, literate in the language, knowledgeable, settled, and... growing more and more unsure of where I fit in.<br /><br />I went to the H&R Block office near Camp Foster, one of Okinawa's many US Military bases today. It was the closest I have been to a base. There were two elderly women in the waiting room with me. One asked the other, in Japanese, "Are you Okinawan?" <br /><br />"No, I'm from Hokkaido," the other answers.<br /><br />The first woman was Okinawan, but she was also very loud, very impulsive. The woman from Hokkaido avoided a conversation with her, keeping her distance with silence and short, definite responses that left not a thread to pull, nothing to grasp onto to build a conversation.<br /><br />The Okinawan woman finished her business and left, but she was paying US taxes, so she must have been either a US citizen or a spouse of one. It was so strange to be in this space - a US tax accounting office - with these two very senior Japanese women.<br /><br />"Excuse me, I couldn't help but overhear, but you said you are from Hokkaido. If you are not an American citizen, then why are you paying taxes? Is your spouse American?" I asked the Hokkaido woman in polite standard Japanese.<br /><br />She stood, coming much closer to me than I had become accustomed to in Japan. While she had avoided the other woman earlier, she was now instantly engaged in talking to me. "I am an American citizen, so I pay taxes in Japan and in the US. It's a real burden, isn't it? I took citizenship in 1951... married to an American."<br /><br />"So that is why you are here in Okinawa? To have been married to an American in your generation must have been very difficult at times, in those days. You have lived through a great deal and experienced quite a lot, I'm sure."<br /><br />"Yes, it was much more difficult then. My husband was in the US military. We got married, and I became a citizen. We moved to Okinawa, but he died in 1968. Over 40 years ago."<br /><br />"Then why are you here, in Okinawa? You can move to the US or back to Hokkaido, or anywhere. Why Okinawa, if you have no family or roots here?"<br /><br />"I have been an ikebana teacher for many, many years, and I was teaching here when my husband died. I decided to stay here and continue teaching. However, I don't teach anymore, either. But still I live here. I don't see myself moving anymore."<br /><br />"You decided to stay in Okinawa?"<br /><br />She paused for a minute and said, "Sometimes it is not a decision. It just is so. You don't decide. It's more like you discover. You find out what you are going to do, but you are not sure why or who or what decided. I am in Okinawa, and that is all I can tell you."Shinmaikeruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03533877978281092332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1508400597083177524.post-3223022240958983372011-09-16T17:50:00.000-07:002011-09-16T17:58:55.213-07:00Are we temporally buoyant?Watching an animation about the sea, I found it interesting that whales and other sea mammals move all the time. Even when mating or giving birth, they are in transit or at least in motion.<br /><br />On the land, we can stay still in one place, and that takes less energy, too. We can move through X and Y axes, but we can stop or move backward, also. Sea mammals move in the Y-axis as well, but they must be buoyant to do so, and that requires them to continually move forward for stability, perhaps like a bicycle.<br /><br />Could this be an analog of our existence in the temporal dimension? Are we temporally buoyant, always moving forward? Of course, whales can change direction, but nonetheless, they don't back up or stop in place. There is always momentum.<br /><br />Time is often described as a flow with us being washed downstream. Perhaps there are also beings like crabs and starfish, beings that are not buoyant and can move or stay still in the temporal dimension?Shinmaikeruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03533877978281092332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1508400597083177524.post-48509204270911155062010-10-28T17:37:00.000-07:002010-10-28T17:40:01.582-07:00How to dub a synced audio track (like a foreign lang interpretation) to a video in iMovie '09First, if you have the time and budget, just buy Final Cut or Premiere and save yourself some headache. If you don't have the luxury of time and money and have to use iMovie '09, here is the best way to proceed:<br /><br />Ingredients: <br />Original long vid clip of talk<br />Original long aud clip of the simul-interp you want to overdub<br /><br />Procedure:<br />If the video is in VOB format, which happens often with media people, convert it to mp4 using HandBrake.<br />Import the full mp4 (m4v) into iMovie. Handbrake will put a m4v extension on the file, and iMovie won't import that, so just change the extension to mp4 before importing.<br />Duplicate the project.<br />In the duplicate, select the whole clip and extract audio.<br />Select the audio file and save as WAV.<br />Import the simul-interp audio file into Audacity.<br />Import the WAV file of the extracted audio from the original video file.<br />Synch the two, being careful to orient the start of the resulting audio at the beginning of the audio extracted from the video clip. By doing so, you can record the time of the beginning and ending of the video clips you decide later and then use these times to cut the audio.<br />Silence the original extracted audio track.<br />Save as AudAll in MP3.<br />Back to original project, duplicate again so that the original audio is still embedded in the video clip as it was before you extracted it.<br />Go through video and cut it into clips. Review several times and make sure that this is the way you want to cut the video.<br />Use Excel or Calc to make a list of the clips and there lengths, calculating where the next clip will begin. Be sure to include the offset at the beginning that you get when you add titles. That can be Vid00.<br />Rename this project ClipAll.<br />Duplicate VidAll and rename to Vid01.<br />Delete everything but the first clip.<br />In Audacity, import AudAll.mp3 and use the times you recorded to select, copy, make new file, and paste the audio clip for video clip 1.<br />Check it, comparing the timing and content to the video clip you made inside project VidAll.<br />Save the audio as Aud01.mp3.<br />Import Aud01.mp3 into Vid01.<br />Fine-tune the syncing and make sure the end is okay, that you have enough audio to cover the end of the video clip. It is okay to go over.<br />Export project Vid01 as mp4 and then use the browser to upload to Youtube while working on Vid02.Shinmaikeruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03533877978281092332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1508400597083177524.post-10924798218369934752010-06-13T01:59:00.001-07:002010-06-13T02:11:15.504-07:00MAC認証セキュリティシステム（三井情報のSAS）でのDHCP不良三井情報のSASを導入してから下記の現象が見られました：<br />２４時間以上使っていないPCの電源を入れるとIPアドレスを取得するには４〜８分かかります。<br />いろいろ業者と相談してもなかなか解決できなかったが、やっと分かりました。<br />MAC認証システムは、最小に仮IP（10.255.255.x）を与えます。このIPからDHCPREQUESTを出すとdhcpサーバから見ると依頼元のネットワークが間違っています。そこにこの解決の鍵がありました。<br /><br />内のdhcpサーバが業者の下請けによってインストールされてのですが、dhcpd.confの中で「non-authoritative」になっていた。そうなりますと、10.255.255.xからのDHCPREQUESTがnon-authoritativeの理由で無視される。dhcpd.confで一番上の行にauthoritativeにすると、「wrong network」のログエラーが出ます。その直後DHCPNAKとDHCPDISCOVERがありますから結局IPアドレスを１分以内に取得できる。<br /><br />要するに、MACアドレス認証システムを使っていれば、dhcpdサーバのdhcpd.confがauthoritativeになっていないとうまくいかない。<br /><br />When using a MAC address recognition security system which gives a dummy IP to the client while checking the MAC registration status, make sure that the DHCP server's dhcpd.conf has "authoritative" as the first line. If it doesn't, the DHCP request from the dummy network is ignored, and the next DHCPDISCOVERY doesn't come for about four minutes or so.Shinmaikeruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03533877978281092332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1508400597083177524.post-28709622713132662412010-04-17T01:32:00.000-07:002010-04-17T01:47:41.889-07:00Setting Keyboard Layout in WinXP, Vista, and Win7<p>Regedit<br><br />Go to<br><br />HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\i8042prt\Parameters<br><br /><br><br />For JIS keyboard layout:<br><br />値の名前 : 値の種類 : 値のデータ<br /><br>LayerDriver JPN : REG_SZ : kbd106.dll<br><br />OverrideKeyboardIdentifier : REG_SZ : PCAT_106KEY<br />OverrideKeyboardSubtype : DWORD : 2<br><br />OverrideKeyboardType : DWORD : 7<br><br /><br><br />For US keyboard layout:<br><br /><br>LayerDriver JPN : REG_SZ : kbd101.dll<br><br />OverrideKeyboardIdentifier : REG_SZ : PCAT_101KEY<br />OverrideKeyboardSubtype : DWORD : 0<br><br />OverrideKeyboardType : DWORD : 0<br><br /></p>Shinmaikeruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03533877978281092332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1508400597083177524.post-57671927232097751202009-09-30T13:47:00.000-07:002009-09-30T13:49:50.344-07:00Make Windows XP Japanese recognize US 101 keyboard<p>This is from http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/CC58BBDC801BB536862575210020234A reprinted here so that I can find it easily.<br /></p><p>１．キーボードを日本語配列から英語配列のもに変更する方法</p> <p>・デバイスマネージャで、キーボードに割り当てられているドライバを日本語キーボードから英語キーボードに更新してください。<br />・コントロールパネルの地域と言語のオプションから、言語タブを選び、"テキスト サービスと入力言語" の "詳細" ボタンをクリックし、"US" や米国、英語などの英語配列キーボードのサービスを追加してください。</p> <p>以上の設定で、通常の半角文字の入力モードのキーボード配列が英語配列に変更されます。</p> <p> </p> <p>２．日本語入力モードで、英語のキー配列を使用するための設定</p> <p>上記の設定だけでは、日本語入力モードにした際にキー配列が日本語に戻ってしまう場合があります。その場合は、以下の手順にしたがって、レジストリを編集してください。</p> <p>・スタートメニューから、ファイル名を指定して実行を選び、"regedit"と入力して、レジストリエディタを開きます。<br />・[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\i8042prt\Parameters] レジストリを選択します。<br />・以下のキーの値の名前を右クリックし"修正"を選択し、変更します。</p> ※詳しくは下記リンクのMicrosoft社ページを参照下さい。 <p>LayerDriver JPN → KBD101.DLL (KBD106.DLLになっている可能性があります）<br />OverrideKeyboardIdentifier → PCAT_101KEY (PCAT_106KEYになっている可能性があります)<br />OverrideKeyboardSubtype → 0 (2になっている可能性があります)<br />OverrideKeyboardtype → 7 (8になっている、もしくはキーがない可能性があります)</p> <p>上記の編集が終わったら、レジストリエディタを終了し、Windowsを再起動します。</p>Shinmaikeruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03533877978281092332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1508400597083177524.post-15433524411437341632009-01-03T13:58:00.000-08:002009-01-03T14:21:47.298-08:00Undergraduate intro to IT syllabus, a list of requirements for computer and internet literacyI am trying to gather ideas on the skills and concepts that should be considered mandatory for first-year college students. I have seen teachers do everything from demonstrating the mechanics of hard disk drives to spending two weeks on typing, and in many Japanese colleges, computer literacy is a just a class on using Microsoft Office. Please post what you think should be taught in an Introduction to IT. Also feel free to post summaries of what you have seen people teach in Intro to IT. This discussion began as a thread on the schoolforge-discuss@schoolforge.net mailing list, which is "An open forum for discussing topics related to education, <a href="http://www.schoolforge.net/free-software-open-source-software">FLOSS</a>, and technology trends" hosted at http://www.schoolforge.net/.Shinmaikeruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03533877978281092332noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1508400597083177524.post-74818587205521563302008-11-12T00:35:00.000-08:002008-11-12T19:21:10.490-08:00A subjective review of database modeling software<span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Background</span><br /><br />I maintain and continue the development of an administrative database for the small college where I work. As part of a proposal for a Monbukagakusho grant (Japan's national department of education and science, among a few other things), I am proposing to have some outside developers help me to rewrite our db app in Ruby on Rails. I chose ROR because of the overwhelming community of Rubyists here in Kyushu, and I chose to hire developers because I will be learning Ruby from scratch and need to get this done fast.<br /><br />The developers told me that they needed something more detailed than the .dot file (Graphviz) and the HTML documentation that is produced by our current framework, ERW. They suggested ERWin, which is over 100,000 yen (one thousand dollars) even with an educational discount. So I asked <a href="http://www.experts-exchange.com/">http://www.experts-exchange.com/</a> and combed the search engines for recommendations. I tested quite a lot of software, and these are my disorganized findings and recommendations.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Criteria</span><br /><br />I have a large database with lots of unused tables and some design problems that need to be fixed. I need software that can accurately reverse engineer my current database so that I don't have to do everything by hand. I also need good printing capabilities.<br /><br />My db is running on Postgresql7.3 on an intranet Apache RHEL3 server. I tried quite a few programs and lost a lot of time trying to make things work with my database in its current version. Support personnel from MicroOLAP and from ModelRight told me flat out that most software won't support reverse engineering from Postgresql 7.3 and that the ODBC drivers for 7.3 are not very good. They suggested that I pg_dump the db structure and install on Postgresql8.2 or 8.3, so I set up EnterpriseDB's one-click Postgresql package on my Windows VM and then tried them all again.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Findings</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Toad Modeler</span> (<a href="http://www.toadsoft.com/toaddm/toad_data_modeler.htm">http://www.toadsoft.com/toaddm/toad_data_modeler.htm</a>) was my first test. It does not support Postgresql 7.3, so I could not try it after I first installed it. I found a download for its previous version, x-casestudio, which does support 7.3. However, the company wouldn't give me a trial key, so I couldn't try that out, either. After I finally got the database duplicated on Postgresql8.3, the Toad trial period (less than the 30 days offer by other software) had ended, so I never got to try Toad. Toad does seem to have a lot of documentation online and a community, including screencasts, so it looks like it would be worth looking into.<br /><br />I spent a long time trying <span style="font-weight: bold;">MicroOLAP Database Designer for Postgresql </span>(<a href="http://www.microolap.com/products/database/postgresql-designer/">http://www.microolap.com/products/database/postgresql-designer/</a>). I experimented and sent in bug reports to them as I tried to get it to work with my Pg7.3 db. Even then, it engineered nicely but crashed when I tried to save. When I finally installed Pg8.3 and tried it, I found it to be responsive, light, and graphically very easy to look at. It supports Postgresql natively and correctly reverse engineered everything. The support staff was very good, too, and the president of the company even responded to an email with advice and a coupon code for half price (making it about 70 USD). The relationship lines are drawn really well, by which I mean that when you move a table around, the links move with it, and they never bunch up or overlap, and lines automatically bend at right angles at places and go diagonal at others. The drawback to MicroOLAP was the lack of an explicit cardinality determination on the relationship properties. It is not obvious how to declare two tables in a IS_A relationship, which is 1:1, for example. I assume that it is done by setting the Null and Unique properties on the foreign keys in the child table, but that would be better as a property of the relationship. For traditional ERD with Postgresql, this was my favorite.<br /><br />I installed and used <span style="font-weight: bold;">HappyFish</span> (<a href="http://www.polderij.nl/happyfish/">http://www.polderij.nl/happyfish/</a>) for a while. It is really, really easy to use, has great printing capabilities, and it offers all the features you need. The UI is intuitive and snappy, and support for Happy Fish was really good, too. The online docs are a little lacking, but the condemning factor for me was the fact that the relationship lines are straight and bend at right angles. They also snap to the grid, so a diagram of any complexity ends up having overlapping relationship lines and becomes hard to understand. Other than that, great software, and it pulled my db out through ODBC even with Pg7.3 pretty well.<br /><br />I tried <span style="font-weight: bold;">ConceptDraw</span> (<a href="http://www.conceptdraw.com/en/products/cd5/main.php">http://www.conceptdraw.com/en/products/cd5/main.php</a>) and was happy to see that it is Mac-PC, so I installed it on the Mac but couldn't find the macro that is supposed to reverse engineer databases. ConceptDraw support informed me that this feature is only available on Windows, so I installed it on my Windows VM and tried again. It took a very long time to reverse engineer, and when it was done, there were no relationships. The other drawback to ConceptDraw is that the ERD it makes is just a diagram, without detailed properties. But I must say that if you are not reverse engineering and not working with a really, really large and complex database, ConceptDraw is a very good buy because it is very useful for other illustrations and diagrams. I still might consider ConceptDraw because one purchase would give me a great program for documenting our campus network, organizational flowcharts, and team processes for us in grant proposals like the one I am working on now. Fabulous website and really good tutorials and screencasts.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">ModelRight</span> (<a href="http://www.modelright.com/">http://www.modelright.com/</a>) is really good, in many ways. They have a Community edition with a smaller feature set for free, and they have a free read-only version that you can give to clients and contractors who don't own ModelRight so that they can inspect your models. I love this idea and hope that others emulate it. The view options and the customizations are great, but what I liked most of all was that ModelRight has a really active online community with forums and tutorials, so you will get prompt support and advice. It is a really good deal. However, ModelRight also failed to reverse engineer my relationships, though the soon-to-be-released version 3.5 (support said it will take a few more months) Postgresql version of ModelRight will probably do this better. For generic db ERD, ModelRight would be a very good buy. With a proactive support crew, a great online community, and a very feature-rich and easy-to-use interface, I think 3.5 will be my favorite ERD tool, but I cannot wait a few months, so the search goes on.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">ERCreator</span> (<a href="http://www.modelcreator.com/">http://www.modelcreator.com/</a>) has a lot of users, and it seemed pretty good on the website, but when I tried to reverse engineer from the 7.3 and then from the 8.3, it just froze. I had to use Process Explorer to kill it. Sorry that I cannot evaluate it, but it choked and died three times on me. I don't think I have done it justice, so do try it yourself.<br /><br />A member of experts-exchange.com named "thewild" suggested <span style="font-weight: bold;">Enterprise Architect </span>(<a href="http://www.sparxsystems.com.au/">http://www.sparxsystems.com.au/</a>), so I gave it a shot. It offers the features that other systems offer, but it is also a full-featured UML 2.1 modeling program. There are many versions, each of which is offered with educational discount for as low as 60USD. Another plus is that Sparxsystems offers EALite, which, like the lite version of ModelRight, is a free read-only program that allows clients and contractors to inspect your models.<br /><br />EA reverse-engineered my db and the relationships just fine, but the resulting diagram was not an ERD, and I am ashamed to say that intimidated me. I studied database design formally and have read two different editions of Date's Intro to Database Systems and enjoyed it both times. I honestly enjoy relational databases, Venn diagrams, and set theory. I really like Chen ERDs, and I feel so confident with them that I sketch them free-hand when talking about domain issues with users. However, EA did not produce Chen but UML Data Modeling Profile (UML-DMP).<br /><br />The EA help system states that EA implements the UML Data Modeling Profile, which is not yet ratified as UML but is widely used and pretty much is closer than any other UML database modeling framework to becoming an official part of UML, and UML itself is on the way to being an ISO standard. But I am in a hurry to get this done, and I don't know UML at all, so I was even more intimidate. I could not figure out what all these properties options were, and I didn't want to make a fool of myself. Because I am in a hurry to finish this diagram and get a formal estimate, I put down EA and went back to MicroOLAP.<br /><br />But the issue stuck with me, and I read the EA Help system's explanation of the UML-DMP (<a href="http://www.sparxsystems.com.au/resources/uml_datamodel.html">http://www.sparxsystems.com.au/resources/uml_datamodel.html</a>), and then I looked it up online and found a couple of informative articles.<br /><br />Donald Golden at <a href="http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4041/is_200604/ai_n17186203/pg_1?tag=artBody;col1">http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4041/is_200604/ai_n17186203/pg_1?tag=artBody;col1</a> describes why Cleveland State University made UML their modeling tool for all information science classes, including database design. CSU students use UML in database design, software design, and networking classes, which means that they can construct a UML project that includes all aspects of a complete system and describes how the parts interact.<br /><br />Fred Lewis at <a href="http://wescosoftware.com/papers/umldbase.html">http://wescosoftware.com/papers/umldbase.html</a> goes into the nuts and bolts of how UML replaces the ERD and expands on the information that can be modeled.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Conclusion</span></span><br /><br />While ModelRight has the most features, it does not yet support Postgresql natively and did not successfully reverse engineer my db, leaving MicroOLAP the best candidate among the ERD tools. However, Enterprise Architect (EA) is not an ERD tool, so I was actually faced with a choice between ERD MicroOLAP and UML EA. ERD tools, and in particular Postgresql-specific tools like MicroOLAP can help you maintain and administer a database through the program, generating and applying SQL modification code through the diagramming software itself. This is something that EA does not offer. However, EA opens the door to the rewarding (if labor-intensive) acquisition of a new skill set and the possibility of applying UML to other parts of your work.<br /><br />So I am going to go with Enterprise Architect, but I should make clear the misgivings I have about it:<br /><ol><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Printing</span>: The printing system is not as easy to use as the ERD tools. Most of them have a page boundary layer on the screen that lets you see how many pages the diagram will take and even arrange the tables so that they don't break across pages. ModelRight, HappyFish, and MicroOLAP do this really well. EA's printing system allows you to specify how many pages wide and high of what size page to fit the diagram into, but you cannot prevent graphics being on the edges between pages.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Speed</span>: The software is slow. I am using an XP VM on Parallels under Mac, but I have given the VM 64 MB of video ram and 2GB of RAM, and EA is still jerky and slow. Where MicroOLAP and ModelRight tables glide across the screen under your cursor, EA lets you move a blank frame and then the table jumps into place; also, moving a table to the edge of the screen to scroll to an unused piece of drawing space takes a long time. Actually, all scrolling and panning takes too long and is jerky. Also, after clicking a class or attribute in the navigation panes there is a little lag before something happens. I would love to see EA speed up.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Navigation</span>: Zoom and span capability is a little lacking. The span and zoom window is fine, but you have to move the cursor over there and use the slide bar or move the frame in the window. Other tools let me use the mouse wheel to scroll up and down (no modifying key), left and right (when holding shift), and zoom in and out (when holding Ctrl), which is much more efficient and faster.<br /></li></ol>These issues aside, I am choosing and recommending EA because, for a very small fraction of the cost of Rational Rose or other enterprise-scale program, you will get a fully UML2.1-ready UML diagramming tool that also does the new Data Modeling Profile and can reverse-engineer existing databases and generate SQL to create databases. The price list at <a href="http://www.sparxsystems.com.au/products/ea/purchase.html">http://www.sparxsystems.com.au/products/ea/purchase.html</a> lists the Desktop version at 135 USD, and the educational pricelist at <a href="http://www.sparxsystems.com/products/academic_pricing.html">http://www.sparxsystems.com/products/academic_pricing.html</a> lists it at 65 USD. Also, choosing EA for database diagrams means that I will have to learn something new in order to use it. That is a burden but also a plus, because in addition to enlarging my skill set, this opens the door to using UML for other things, like network diagrams and organizational process analysis.<br /><br />I finally chose to get into using UML for database modeling as a means to develop professionally and satisfy my interest in UML, but this might also mean getting in early on the next evolution in database modeling and design.Shinmaikeruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03533877978281092332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1508400597083177524.post-71941005502574809652007-12-28T22:20:00.000-08:002008-01-04T15:22:15.571-08:00HowTo: Django Dev Environment on MacOSX Tiger using MacPortsThe Mac uses Python in the OS itself, so messing with the system Python can be risky, and Apple has a bad reputation for compliance with the official Python, because the earlier versions of OSX shipped with broken Python installations, and even recent versions of OSX ship with modified versions of Python.<br /><br />MacPorts can give you a consistent django dev environment with easy upgrades, but you have to be conscious of which Python you are calling and make sure your PATH variables are set correctly when making scripts, using IDEs, and so on. MacPorts offers a django port, so you could feasibly set up everything through MacPorts, but I set up django with subversion here.<br /><br />MacPorts<br /><ol><li>Install MacPorts from the Mac OSX package.<br /></li></ol>Python Environment and Postgresql<br /><ol><li>Macports treats each piece of software as a "port," and it downloads the source, compiles, and then installs the software for you. MacPorts also installs dependencies for you, so if you tell MacPorts to install port C, which is dependent on A and B, MacPorts will install A, B, and C.</li><li>In order to make sure that your MacPorts has the latest info, update it with:<br />sudo port sync</li><li>For Django, we need a DBMS, and I choose Postgresql. We need psycopg to link it to Python, so let's first find out which postgresql, python, and psycopg ports are available:<br />sudo port search postgresql<br />sudo port search python<br />sudo port search psycopg</li><li>A little research reveals that, as of this writing, the differences in Python 2.4 and Python 2.5 have necessitated that the MacPorts project separate related ports into those beginning 'py-' for Python 2.4 and 'py24-' for Python 2.5. So since I want to use Python 2.5 with Postgresql, I will need to use py25-psycopg2.<br /></li><li>The port maintainer decides the dependencies of the port she maintains, so the dependencies of py25-psycopg2 will determine the version of Postgresql to be installed:<br />sudo port deps py25-psycopg2<br /></li><li>Though postgresql82 is the newest version, py25-psycopg2 depends on postgresql81, so that is the one I will go with.<br /></li><li>So let's start with the database server:<br />sudo port install postgresql81 postgresql81-server</li><li>Now we need to install Python 2.5:<br />sudo port install python25</li><li>And now the library that allows Python and Postgresql to communicate:<br />sudo port install py25-psycopg2</li><li>Technically, this is the minimal set of parts needed for django, but the MacPorts version of Python includes only the essentials, leaving it to the user to add modules, and some of these excluded modules are needed to really use Django. First install py25-hashlib to accommodate Django's authentication module:<br />sudo port install py25-hashlib</li><li>Next, install py25-readline if you want the interactive interpreter to be usable at all (backspace, delete, etc.):<br />sudo port install py25-readline</li><li>Another recommendation is to install iPython, which is an enhanced Python interactive shell. While I would not bother if I had to manually configure Django to work with iPython, I recommend it here because (1) iPython is multi-platform and (2) Django was modified to call iPython, if found, and only if not found to call the regular interactive shell.<br /></li><li>Then install other modules you might need:<br />sudo port install py25-bz2 py25-zlib py25-crypto py25-chardet py25-dateutil py25-socket-ssl<br /></li><li>Though postgresql is installed, it is not really set up yet. For the sake of easy management, I want to keep all user databases in /Users/DB/postgresql, so first make that dir:<br />sudo mkdir /Users/DB/postgresql</li><li>Now we go to Netinfo Manager to find out what user (and group) MacPorts installed for postgresql. It should be user postgres, but my install resulted in the following, so I give it a password :<br />username: postgres81<br />group: postgres<br />passwd: agoodpassword</li><li>Make PostgreSQL binaries available to user by adding to PATH in ~/.profile:<br />echo 'export PATH=$PATH:/opt/local/lib/postgresql81/bin' >> ~/.profile</li><li>Since PostgreSQL will run under postgres81 user, we need to make it own the postgresql directory:<br />sudo chown -R postgres81:postgres /Users/DB/postgresql</li><li>Initialize the PostgreSQL master database. We are starting PostgreSQL as user postgres81, so we use sudo to elevate privileges; use su to assume the user we want, then use -c to tell su to execute a command as user postgres81:<br />sudo su postgres81 -c "initdb -D /Users/DB/postgresql"</li><li>Add postgresql start and stop commands to profile:<br />alias pgstart="sudo su postgres81 -c 'pg_ctl -D /Users/DB/postgresql -l /Users/DB/postgresql/logfile start'"<br />alias pgstop="sudo su postgres81 -c 'pg_ctl -D /Users/DB/postgresql stop -m fast'"<br />alias pgstatus="sudo su postgres81 -c 'pg_ctl status -D /Users/DB/postgresql'"</li><li>Now logout and log back in, then create a role (user) in postgres with the same name as the login who will use it:<br />sudo su postgres81<br />createuser -s -P -l</li><li>Part of the MacPorts install adds the dir for the MacPorts apps to the PATH:<br /># Setting the path for MacPorts.<br />export PATH=/opt/local/bin:/opt/local/sbin:$PATH</li><li>However, when calling python from the command line, you will still get the Tiger default Python 2.3 because the MacPorts Python executable in /opt/local/bin is named python2.5, so make a symbolic link so that a call to 'python' will give you 'python2.5':<br />sudo ln -s /opt/local/bin/python2.5 /opt/local/bin/python</li></ol>Django source files<br /><ol><li>Now that Python 2.5 and Postgresql are set up, it is time to install the Django source files. First, use the shell to find the site-packages dir for Python:<br />python -c "from distutils.sysconfig import get_python_lib; print get_python_lib()"</li><li>Assuming you set the PATH correctly, the default MacPorts Python 2.5 install should give you:<br />/opt/local/lib/python2.5/site-packages</li><li>You can install the django source right there in site-packages, or you can install them in a separate directory and make a link. For my purposes, I want a dir for web dev, and inside it a dir for django, and inside that I want to install the django source code, so let's create that nested dir:<br />mkdir -p ~/Webdev/django/src</li><li>Next, move to the source dir and use svn to check out the dev trunk of django in this dir. This command will create a dir containing the dev version. This is the core code of django, and it will be kept separate from the projects that will be created with django:<br />cd ~/Webdev/django/src<br />svn co http://code.djangoproject.com/svn/django/trunk/ django-trunk</li><li>Create a symbolic link to the django source in the site-packages dir:<br />sudo ln -s ~/Webdev/django/src/django-trunk /opt/local/lib/python2.5/site-packages</li><li>Create a symlink to make sure that the Python interpreter can load the django code:<br />ln -s /opt/local/lib/python2.5/site-packages/django-trunk/django /opt/local/lib/python2.5/site-packages/django</li><li>On Unix-like systems, first check your $PATH and then create a symbolic link to django-admin.py in a directory on your system path so that you don't have to type the full path when invoking it, so if `echo $PATH` shows that /usr/bin is in your path, you can make a link:<br />ln -s /opt/local/lib/python2.5/site-packages/django-trunk/django/bin/django-admin.py /usr/bin<br /></li><li>See if `ls -l /usr/bin/django-admin.py` gives you something like:<br />lrwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 78 Dec 29 12:39 /usr/bin/django-admin.py -> /opt/local/lib/python2.5/site-packages/django-trunk/django/bin/django-admin.py</li><li>The sites you make in Django are stored separate from the Django code, and all of this is outside of your public_html or /var/www directories. I choose to keep my projects in the django webdev dir:<br />mkdir ~/Webdev/django/sites/</li></ol>First project according to Django Tutorial<br /><ol><li>Move to the sites dir and create a new project:<br />cd ~/Webdev/django/sites/<br />django-admin.py startproject mysite</li><li>If postgresql is not running, turn it on and then login to psql:<br />pgstatus<br />pgstart<br />psql template1</li><li>In psql, create postgresql role django to use for django and then create the unicode database mysite with django as owner:<br />create role django with superuser createdb login password 'agoodpassword';<br />create database mysite encoding='UTF8' owner=django;</li><li>Edit djangotests/mysite/settings.py, specifying:<br />DATABASE_ENGINE = 'postgresql_psycopg2'<br />DATABASE_NAME = 'mysite'<br />DATABASE_USER = 'django'<br />DATABASE_PASSWORD = 'agoodpassword'<br />TIME_ZONE = 'Asia/Tokyo'</li><li>Make sure you are in the project dir and then start the dev server included with python:<br />cd ~/Webdev/django/sites/mysite<br />python manage.py runserver</li><li>Check the following link to make sure the django dev server is running on localhost:<br /><a href="http://127.0.0.1:8000/">http://127.0.0.1:8000/</a></li><li>Run the script to create tables for installed apps listed in settings.py:<br />python manage.py syncdb</li><li>This creates the tables needed for your test project. Use psql to take a look. Earlier, you created a superuser with the same name as the MacOSX login you are using, and you created the django user and the mysite database with django as the owner, so you should be able to access and examine the mysite database:<br />psql mysite</li><li>Use <span style="font-weight: bold;">/dt</span> in psql to describe tables (see all the tables in the database you are using), and use <span style="font-weight: bold;">/d tablename</span> to examine individual tables.</li><li>From there, just follow the tutorial.<br /></li></ol>Shinmaikeruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03533877978281092332noreply@blogger.com0